H65I5 
 1830 
 
^.^v' 
 
 SdB 
 
>%--• ...„ ^* 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/companionforaltaOOhob 
 
COMPANION FOR THE ALTAR; 
 
 on 
 
 WEIiK'S PREPARATION 
 
 FOB THE 
 
 HOL<Y COMMUNION; 
 
 COSfSrSTING OF 
 
 A SHORT EXPLANATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER, 
 
 AND 
 
 MEDITATIONS AND PRAYERS 
 
 rnOPEH TO BE USED BEFOBE ASH BURIWG THE HECEIVING OF THE 
 
 BOXi-ir coMMUnrzoi^T; 
 
 ACCORDING TO TBE FORM PRESCRIBED BT THR 
 
 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
 
 IN THE 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 BY JOHN HENRY HOB\RT, D. D. 
 
 Biiljop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New- York. 
 
 THE FIFTH. FROM THE FOURTH. EDITIOST, 
 
 J/ETFYOJIS'.' 
 
 PUBLISHED BY T. AND J. SWORDS, 
 No. 127 Hro i«lw«v. 
 
 Edward J. Stoords, Printer, 
 
 1830. 
 
Southern District of J\'e-W'YovJCf ss, 
 
 BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the twenty-third day of 
 June, in the forty -third year of the Independence of the 
 o 1 United States of America, T. & J. SioordSy of the said Dis- 
 ^^ ' trict, have deposited in this office the title of a Book, the 
 right whereof they claim as Proprietors, in the words follow- 
 ing, to wit: 
 A Companion for the Mtar ,' or Week's Preparation for the Holy 
 Communion : Consisting of a short Explanation of the Lord's Supper ^ 
 and Meditations and Prayers proper to be used before and during 
 the receiving of the Holy Communion ; according to the Form pre- 
 acribed by the Protestarit Episcopal Church in me United States of 
 America. By John Henry Hobart, D I). Bishop of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church in the State of J\'e-w-York. The fourth edition^ 
 revised and corrected. 
 
 ' In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the Cnit»tl States, entitled 
 "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Cojjits 
 of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such 
 Copies, during the time therein mentioned." And also to ^n Act, en- 
 titled '* An Act, supplementary to an Act, entitled an Act for the En- 
 couragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Myps, Charts, and 
 Books, to the Authors und Proprietors of such Copies, during the times 
 therein menlione*!, and extending the benefits thereof to tTie Arts of 
 Designing, Engraving, and Etching Historical and other Prints." 
 
 GILBERT LIVINGSTON THOMPSON. 
 Clerk of the Southern District of JVetp-1'oj h. 
 
 By Edward TniNon, Ass't, Clerh^ ^c. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE FIRST EDITIOX. 
 
 In the explanation of the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper prefixed to this work, the 
 author has endeavoured to use, as much as 
 possible, the words of the Church in her 
 Catechism and Office for the Communion.* 
 In this introductory treatise he has also made 
 free use of an excellent Tract on the Holy 
 Communion, by Bishop Gibson, and of a 
 Sermon of the late Bishop Seabury, on the 
 same subject ; and when he quoted their sen- 
 timents, he thought it proper to use nearly 
 their language. As quotations from others 
 are thus incorporated witii remarks of his 
 own, a variety of style may possibly be ob* 
 served in this part of the work. It is neces- 
 sary also to remark, that the devotions to be 
 
 • And, in doing this, he has taken for his guide a short 
 Explanation of the Lord^s Supper in the New Week's Pre. 
 paration. 
 
IV PREFACE* 
 
 Used at the admiiustrationof the Holy Com- 
 munion, are not all of them entirely original. 
 But for the rest of the work, the meditations 
 and prayers to be used in the week before 
 the receiving of the Communion, the author 
 is solely responsible. 
 
 In the following pages the writer has en- 
 deavoured to keep in view two principles, 
 which he deems most important and funda- 
 mental. These principles are — That we are 
 saved from the guilt and dominion of sin by 
 the divine merits and grace of a crucified 
 Redeemer ; and that the merits and grace of 
 this Redeemer are applied to the soul of the 
 believer in the devout and humble participa- 
 tion of the ordinances of the Church, admi- 
 tiistered by a priesthood who derive their au- 
 thority by regular transmission from Christ, 
 the Divine Head of the Church, and the 
 source of all the power in it. These are the 
 principles which, at first promulgated by the 
 apostles, "in demonstration of the spirit and 
 with power,'* constituted the glory of the 
 primitive Church — that Church, which was 
 watered by the tears and blood of confess 
 sors and martyrs. These are the principles 
 which, though in the present age unhappily 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 disregarded and contemned, will again be 
 cherished with sacred and inviolable ardour 
 when it shall please the Divine and Almighty 
 Head of the Church to restore her to her 
 original purity and perfection. Could Chris- 
 tians be persuaded heartily to embrace these 
 principles, and to regulate their faith and 
 conduct by them, the Church would be res- 
 cued, on the one hand, from those baneful 
 opinions which are reducing the Gospel to a 
 cold, unfruitful, and comfortless system of 
 heathen morals ; and, on the other, from that 
 wild spirit of enthusiasm and irregular zeal 
 which, contemning the divinely constituted 
 government and priesthood of the Church, 
 is destroying entirely her order, unity, and 
 beauty, and undermining the foundations of 
 sound and sober piety. 
 
 It may possibly be objected to the strain of 
 devotion in this work, that it is msionary and 
 enthusiastic. But surely devotional writings, 
 in order to engage and interest the affections, 
 ought to be, in some degree at least, fervent 
 and animated. The devotional strains of the 
 sweet psalmist of Israel breathe the raptur- 
 ous spirit of those celestial courts to which 
 they are designed to lead the soul. If it be 
 
 A 2 
 
^1 FRBFA€E. 
 
 necessary to descend from sacred to htitnaa 
 authority — the appeal may be made to the 
 primitive fathers, who poured forth their de- 
 votional feelings in language the most ardeat 
 and impassioned. The divines of the Churck 
 of England, who imbibed their principles 
 and their piety at the pure fountain of the 
 primitive Church, are distinguished for their 
 lively and animating fervour. The writings 
 of the venerable Bishop Andrews, of Bishop 
 Taylor, Bishop Kenn, Bishop Hall, Dean 
 Hickes, Dean Sianhope, Bishop Wilson, — 
 (the enumeration might be extended) — and 
 the late eloquent and pious Bishop Home, 
 not less instruct by sound and forcible rea- 
 soning, than animate and warm by the sacred 
 fervour which pervades them. Far be it from 
 the writer, humble in attainments as in years, 
 to presume to range himself, even in the low- 
 est seat, with these eminently distinguished 
 servants of the sanctuary. Happy may he 
 esteem himself, if, from the study of their 
 works, which, next to the inspired volume, 
 he cherishes as the invaluable standard of 
 his principles, and the animating guide of 
 his devotions, he has caught even a feeble 
 spark of that celestial spirit which made them 
 
PREFACE. nl 
 
 burning and shining lights in the Church on 
 earth, and has prepared them for the highest 
 seats of glory in the Church Triumphant. 
 
 For the errors and imperfections which he 
 fears will be found in the work, he must offer 
 as his best, though (he is sensible) feeble 
 apology; that from some unavoidable cir- 
 cumstances, the work, amidst the pressure of 
 professional duties, was written and printed 
 with a haste and rapidity that prevented tiiose 
 frequent and careful corrections, by which 
 only a young and humble writer can hope to 
 attain accuracy and excellence. 
 
 That the work, notwithstanding its imper- 
 fections, may tend to excite the attention of 
 the careless to that inestimable ordinance 
 which is the means and pledge of the Sa- 
 viour's grace and mercy — that it may aid the 
 Christian to receive, with lively penitence, 
 gratitude, and faith, the hallowed sjymbols of 
 the body and blood of his blessed Redeemer, 
 by which he is to be nourished and strength- 
 ened unto everlasting life — is the humble but 
 earnest prayer of 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 New-York, Maij, 1804. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 The Usefulness of actual Preparation before receiving tlie Lord's 
 Supper ---.....11 
 
 A short Introduction to the Lord's Supper, stating the Nature of 
 
 the Ordinance, and the necessary Preparation for it - - 13 
 
 MOXDAV MOKNING. ^/^(/iVa/ion— The Obligation of receiv- 
 ing the Moly Communion stated, and the various Pretences for 
 neglecting it considered and refuted . - - .27 
 
 The Praver, &c. .-.--.- 54 
 MONDAY EVFA'ING. JI/e^i/ai/oTi— The Christian directed 
 in the serious Examination of his Spiritual Character and State, 
 as preparatory to his receiving the Holy Coramuuion . - 56 
 
 A CoJifession of Siu .--... 43 
 
 The Supplication .-...-.49 
 TUESDAY MORNING. Meditation— Sl&a in his Natural 
 
 State - - - - - - - - 51 
 
 The Prayer - * . i » - . 153 
 
 TUESDAY EVENING. Meditation—yisin in his Natural 
 
 State .--..--. sr 
 The Praver ....... 67 
 
 WEDNESDAY MORNING. »WetiiVa«»on— Repentance - 69 
 The Prayer ---.-.. 80 
 
 WEDNESDAY EVENING. .Ve^tVa^on— Resolutions of Obe- 
 dience. The invigorating and sanctifving Ageiicv of ihe Holy 
 Spirit . . - - ' . .' - '.81 
 
 The Praver ....... 93 
 
 THURSDAY MORNING. JMsditation— F-ahh la Christ - 95 
 The Prayer ....... 107 
 
 THURSDAY EVENING. J\Iedilatio7i—Vmh in Christ as the 
 
 eternal Son of God, and as a Prophet, a Priest, and King - 109 
 The Prayer - . - - - - . I2i 
 
 FRIDAY MORNING. Jihditation—Thi\nklu\ Remembrance 
 
 f)f Christ's Death 12S 
 
 The Prayer - - - - . . - 134 
 
 FRIDAY EVENING. JMeditation—ThankM Remembrance of 
 
 the Death of Christ — Charily wiih all Men - - - 136 
 
 An Act of Thaiiksgiving for the Humiliation and Sufferings of 
 
 Christ ........ 152 
 
 The Prayer ....... 15$ 
 
 SATURDAY MORNING. .Meditation— The devout Partici- 
 pation of the Ordinances of the Church, the appointed Method 
 of Salvation - - - - •> - -15Q 
 
 The Praver .,.-.,-. I6!j 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 Meditation — The Mode by which Authority to administer the 
 
 Sacraments is to be derived from Christ, the Divine Head of the 
 
 Church 171 
 
 The Prayer 184 
 
 SATURDAY EVEMNG. Meditation— On the Nature and 
 
 Benefits of the Lord's Supper - - - - -187 
 
 The Prayer 191 
 
 SUNDAY MORNING. Meditation— The. Dispositions with 
 
 wl)ich the Communicant should advance to the Altar - - 193 
 
 The Prayer ....... 203 
 
 The Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper, or Holy 
 
 Communion ..... - . 20i 
 
 The Prayer ....... 231 
 
 A Form of Prayer for the Morning .... 2.33 
 
 A Form of Prayer for Noon ... - - 236 
 
 A Form of Prayer for Evening, &c. .... 238 
 
 Directions to Collects and Psalms, &c. .... 247 
 
 Note A, to page 178 ...... 245 
 
THE 
 
 USEFULNESS OF ACTUAL PREPARATION 
 
 B£FORB BECXITIiro 
 
 THE L.ORI>'S SUPPER. 
 
 (From Dr. Waterland,) 
 
 " Our esteem or disesteem of this holy 
 sacrament will best be seen by our preparing 
 or not preparing for it as we ought. There 
 is something of a preparation of heart, mind, 
 and ways, required for all religious offices, 
 much more for this, which is the flower and 
 perfection of all. 
 
 " As to the length of time to be taken in 
 preparing, there is no one certain rule to be 
 given, which can suit all cases or circumstan- 
 ces: only, when a man has competently ad- 
 justed his accounts with God, (be it sooner or 
 later,; then he is fit to come, and not till then. 
 
 " There is an habitual, and there is an 
 actual preparation. The habitual preparation 
 is a good life; and the further we are advanc- 
 ed in it, the less need there is of any actual 
 preparation besides. But, because men are too 
 apt to flatter and deceive their own hearts^ and 
 to speak peace to themselves without sufficient 
 ground for so doing ; therefore some actual 
 preparation, self-examination, &.c. is gener- 
 ally necessary, even to those who may be ha- 
 bitually good, if it be only to give them a well- 
 grounded assurance that they really are so. 
 
 '* It were to be wished there were not many 
 
12 Preparation for the Lord^s Supper, 
 
 amoncrst us who have a great deal to consider 
 of belorehand ; many offences to correct, many 
 disorders to >et right, much to do, and much 
 to undo, before they presume to come to 
 God's altar. 
 
 " Fault has been sometimes found with 
 these little treatises of Weekly Preparation: 
 I think, without reason. They are exceedingly 
 nsefid in their kind, — It may be happy for 
 them who need none of these helps : but 
 they that least need them, are not the men, 
 generally, who most despise them. None of 
 us, perhaps, are so perfect as not to want, at 
 some seasons, some such hints for recollec- 
 tion, or lu'lps to devotion. It is well for 
 common Christians, that they are provided 
 loiih useful manuals of that kind. They that 
 are well disposed, will make use of them as 
 often as they need them, and will at all times 
 give God thanks and praises for them." 
 
 To the above judicious remarks it may be 
 proper to add, that Christians should omit 
 no opportunity of receiving the holy eucharist, 
 even when it has not been in their power to 
 go through the usual previous preparation. 
 
 He who sincerely endeavours to serve his 
 God and Saviour, is always [)repared to re- 
 ceive the Lord's Supper. And he should 
 thankfully embrace every opportunity of com- 
 memorating, in this sacred ordinance, the 
 love of his blessed Redeemer, and of receiv- 
 ing fresh supplies of grace to quicken and 
 strengthen him in his Christian course. 
 
A 
 
 SHORT INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO THE 
 
 liORD'S SUPPER, 
 
 THE NATURE OF THE ORDINANCE, AND THE 
 NECESSARY PREPARATION FOR IT.* 
 
 The Church in the catechism informs us, 
 that Christ has ordained only two sacra- 
 ments, as genera Uy necessary to salvation ; 
 that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of 
 the Lord, Baptism was instituted by Christ, 
 to be the right of admission inio his Church,\ 
 and is answerable to circumcision among the 
 Jews.X The Lord's Supper was ordained as 
 a memorial of the sacrifice of the death of 
 Christ,§ and appointed by him instead of the 
 
 • Seethe introductory paragraph in the preface. 
 
 ■}■ Go y f therefore and teach all nations, baptizing thera. Matt, xxviii. 
 \% Then they that gladly received the word were baptized; and the 
 same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 
 Acts ii. 41. 
 
 \ !n whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made with- 
 out hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circum- 
 cision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen 
 with hira through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Iiim 
 from the dead. Col. ii. U, 12 
 
 \ For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. 
 That the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took 
 hread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: 
 this ismv body which is brokrn for you: this do in remembrance of me. 
 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, say- 
 ing, Thii cup is thr- New Testament in my blood ; this do ye^ as oft as 
 ye drink it, in remembrance of me. I Cor, xi. 23 — 25. 
 
 B 
 
14 The Sacrament of the 
 
 Jewish passover.*^ These sacraments are both 
 necessary to salvation. Baptism is necessary, 
 being the ordinance whereby we are regen- 
 erated, that is, are translated from our natural 
 state into a state of grace, and horn again to 
 a title to all the privileges of the Gospel co- 
 venant.! The LorWs Supper is necessary, 
 because it conveys that spiritual food by which 
 we are nourished to everlasting life. The 
 former is to be only once, the latter often re- 
 ceived. 
 
 These ordinances the Church considers as 
 only generally, and not absolutely, necessary 
 to salvation. She does not take upon her to 
 exclude all hope of God's mercy, in those 
 extraordinary cases, where the want of op- 
 portunity or capacity, or the force of involun- 
 tary error prevents men from receiving the 
 sacraments. But as the Jeics w^ere obliged, 
 under the severest penalty, to be circumcis- 
 ed, J and keep the passover;§ so our guilt and 
 danger will be proportionably great in not 
 observing, wlien it is in our power, these two 
 more easy institutions,!] which are not only 
 
 • For even Christ our ppssover is sacrificed for us. 1 Cor- v. 7. 
 
 ■\ Jesus answeitd, VeriK, verily, 1 say unto thee, except a man be 
 tiorn of water tn<l of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
 God. John iii. 5. For by orie spirit are we all baptizedinto one body. 
 1 Cor. xii. 13. Saved by the WHshing of regeneration. Tiliis iii. 5. 
 
 % And the uncii-tumcised nian-tliild, \^hose flesli of liis foreskin is not 
 tircunicistd, that soul shall be cut ofi" from his people; he hath biokeii 
 my covenant. Gen. xy'u.X^. 
 
 § Rut the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth 
 to keop the pussover, even the s;tme soul sihall be cutoff from his people. 
 J\\nnb. ix. 13. 
 
 [j See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not 
 •who refused hira that spi'ke on earth, much more shall not we escspe, \l 
 \\ c turn away l;oni iiiia ^l;at sjjeakelh from heaven. JJeb. .vii. 25. 
 
Lord^s Supper explained. 15 
 
 of a higher authority, but also the distinguish- 
 ing badges of a more excellent profession.* 
 
 By the word sacrament the Church informs 
 us is meant an outward and visible sign of 
 an inward and spiritual grace given unto us, 
 ordained hy Christ himself as a means ichere- 
 hy ice receive the same, and a pledge to assure 
 us thereof In order, therefore, to constitute 
 a sacrament there must be, firsts something 
 discernible and apparent to our senses: se- 
 condly, this external sign must represent some 
 spiritual grace and favour vouchsafed us by 
 God : thirdly J the outward symbol must be 
 of Chrisfs own institution: hudi, fourthly, it 
 must be appointed by him as a means of con- 
 veying to us the inward grace, and as a seal 
 and pledge to assure it to us. 
 
 The parts of which a sacrament consists 
 are two, viz. the outward visible sign, and the 
 inward spiritual grace. Outward sensible 
 things can, by the institution of God, be means 
 to convey, and pledges to assure to us, divine 
 grace and favour. These sacramental signs 
 were ordained by God in gracious condescen- 
 sion to our infirmities, to inform our under- 
 standing, to refresh our memories, and to ex- 
 cite our affections. Their efficacy is not owing 
 to any power in themselves, but to the blessing 
 of Christ.\ We are not, therefore, to doubt 
 but that, in the right use of the outward means, 
 
 • For the law was given bj Moses, but grace and truth carae by Jesus 
 Christ. John i. 17. 
 
 f So then, neither is he tnat planteth any thing, neither be that water- 
 eth ; but God, that giveth tbe increase. 1 Cor. iii. 7. 
 
16 The Sacrament of the 
 
 he will, by the power of his spirit, though in 
 a manner unknown to us, convey and confirm 
 in Baptism, and convey and confirm in the 
 Lord's Slipper to the worthy receivers, the 
 divine grace signified thereby. 
 
 The Lords Supper is so called, because the 
 Jetcish custom of eating bread and drinking 
 wine, at the conclusion of the Paschal Sup- 
 per, was by our Lord converted into the 
 sacrament of his most precious bodi/ and 
 blood'' 
 
 The Church teaches us, that the outward 
 part or sign of the Lords Supper is bread and 
 ^cine, which the Lord has commanded to be re-- 
 reived. Though it is our duty to rest satisfi^ 
 ed in our Lord's will and pleasure, without 
 seeking after a reason for his appointments ; 
 we cannot but observe, that as our spiritual 
 purification is appositely represented hyicater 
 in the other sacrament, so is our spiritual sus- 
 tenance by bread and icine in this. This 
 sacrament is commanded to be administered 
 in both kinds, J 
 
 The Church likewise informs us, that the in- 
 icard part, or thing signified, is the body and 
 blood of Christ, God did not only give his 
 
 * And he took bread, and gave thanks, and hrake it, and gave unto 
 them, saying, This is my body which is given for you; this do in renieni- 
 "brance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is 
 the New Testament in ray blood, which is shed for you. Luhe xxii. 19, 
 20. 
 
 f The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the 
 blood of Christ.'' The bread which we break, is it not the coramuuion of 
 the body of Christ'' 1 Cor. x. 16. And as they were eating, Jesus took 
 tread, and blessed it and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, 
 Tt!ke, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and 
 gave it to them, saying. Drink ye all of it. JMatt, xxvi. i26, 27. 
 
Lord^s Supper explained. 17" 
 
 Son Jesus Christ to die for us, but also to be 
 our spiritual food and sustenance in this holy 
 sacrament; and if we receive it with a true 
 penitent heart and lively faith, we do spirit- 
 ually eat the flesh of Christ, and drink his 
 blood : we partake of all those blessings which 
 he purchased by the offering of his body and 
 blood; we are nourished and preserved to 
 everlasting life. 
 
 The Church assures us, that the sacrament 
 of the Lordh Supper icas ordained for the 
 continual remembrance of the sacrifice of the 
 death of Christ and of the benefits tchich we 
 receive thereby. This memorial of Christ's 
 death is to be a standing service in his Church, 
 so long as it continues militant on earth. 
 Christ did institute, and in his holy Gospel 
 command us to continue a perjfetual memory 
 of his precious death and sacrifice, until his 
 coming again.* His death is called a sacrifice; 
 because our heavenly Father, of his tender mer- 
 cy, gave his only Son Jesus Christ, to suffer 
 death upon the cross for our redemption; who 
 made there(byhis one oblation of himself once 
 offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, 
 oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the 
 whole world.f By this sacrifice we receive 
 the remission of our sins, and are made par» 
 takers of the kingdom of heaven.} And as the 
 
 • For as often as ye eat tliis bread, and d, ink this cup, ye do sliow the 
 Loi'd's death till he corae. 1 Cor. xi. 26. 
 
 t And he is ilu- prnpitiation foi' our sins; and not fo • oui's only, but 
 iil30 for the sins of the whole woruK 1 John ii. '2.. 
 
 4 For if, Tvhen we were enemies, we were reconciled to God bv the 
 B2 
 
18 The Sacrament of the 
 
 Son of God did vouchsafe to yield up his soul 
 by death, upon the cross for our salvation ; so 
 it is the duty of all Christians frequently to re- 
 ceive the communion, in remembrance of the 
 sacrifice of his death, as he himself has com- 
 manded.* 
 
 The eucharist is considered by some as not 
 only a sacrament, in which, under the symbols 
 of bread and wine, according to the institu- 
 tion of Christ, the faithful truly and spiritually 
 receive the body and blood of Christ, but also 
 a sacrifice, commemorative of the original 
 sacrifice and, death of Christ for our deliver- 
 ance from sin and death : a memorial made 
 before God, to plead with him the meritorious 
 sacrifice and death of his dear Son for the 
 forgiveness of our sins, and all other benefits 
 of Christ's passion. The eucharist being, as 
 its name imports, a sacrifice of thanksgimng, 
 the bread and wine, after they have been of- 
 fered, or given to God, and blessed or sanc- 
 tified by his Holy Spirit, are returned by the 
 hand of his minister, to be eaten by the faith- 
 ful, as di feast upon the sacrifice; both to de- 
 note their being at peace and in favour with 
 God, being thus fed at his table, and eating 
 of his food, and also to convey to the worthy 
 receivers all the benefits and blessings of 
 
 death of his Son ; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by hi.s 
 life. Rom. v. 10. 
 
 • After the %^mt manner he also took the cup when he had supped, 
 saying, This cup is the N^w Testament m my blood; tiiis do ye, as oft 
 zt ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread 
 and drink this cup, ve do show the Lord's death till he come. I Ctr, x\> 
 25, 26. 
 
Lord^s Supper explained, \% 
 
 Christ's natural body and blood, which were 
 offered and slain for their redemption.* 
 
 The Church informs us, that the benefits 
 whereof we are partakers in the Lord^s Sup- 
 per are the strengthening and refreshing of 
 our souls f by the body and blood of Christ, 
 as our bodies are by the bread and wine. As 
 bread and trine, considered only as natural 
 food, strengthen and refresh our bodies, so 
 this bread and icine, received as inemorials of 
 the body and blood of Christ our Master, tend 
 to the miprovement and health of our sotds. 
 In this ordinance our souls are strengthened 
 by the most solemn exercise of faith ; by the 
 most lively acts of gratitude and lore ; and 
 especially by the communication of superna- 
 tural grace.\ Our souls are also refreshed by 
 the comfortable assurance of God's favour 
 
 • See Bishop Se'<bury's discourse on the hoiy eucharist. 
 
 Some I'iversitv of opinion exists on the subject of the eucharist being, 
 in a strict ?nf) proper sense, a sacrifice. Considering the death nf the 
 victim as essential lo a sacrifice, the term is improperly applied to the 
 eucharist. In this ordinance there is no victim slsir. ;"id offered. But if 
 sacrifice he consiHered as synonymous with obhifiori, the lioly eucharist 
 may IjC esteeraeti a in/e and proper sacrifice. Fur the benediction of 
 the bread and ivine bv our Lord, we moy leasoPiblv eonelude, was ac- 
 companied viih the solemn oblation of them to his Alniightv Father, as 
 the memorial of his body that wr^s to be broken, and his blood that was 
 to be shed as a propitiation for the sins of the world. .\ccordIn.sb '.ur 
 Church, following pri'nilive us'ige, makes an oblnlion of the consecrated 
 bread and wine in the ho!v eucb'^ri't. " ^A^., »hv humble servints, do 
 celebrate and make here, before thy divine Majesty, with these thy holy 
 gifts, -which vje norv offer unto thee, the tnemorial thy Son hath' com- 
 manded us to make." tiither as a sacrifice or as au obhitinn, the end of 
 this solemn presentation of the cnnsecr^tC'l bre-^d and wine to f7od is the 
 same, to plead with him, that " by tlie me'-its and death of bis Son Jesus 
 Christ, and through faith in his blood," all the faithful members of hk 
 Church may " obtam remission of their sins, -nd all other )>enefits of his 
 passion.'* See the prayer of consecratioti in ihe communion office. 
 
 t He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh mr blood, dwelleth in me, an/f 
 1 in him. John vi. 5o. 
 
20 The Sacrament of the 
 
 and gracious goodness toward us ;* that we 
 are very memhtrs incorporate in the myistical 
 body of his Son,t which is the blessed com- 
 pany of all faithful people ; and also heirs 
 through hope of his everlasting kingdom, by 
 the merits of the most precious death and 
 passion of his dear Son.f 
 
 We are taught by the Church, that it is 
 required of those icho come to the Lord^s 
 Supper to examine themselves, whether they 
 repent them truJij of their former sins, stead- 
 fasthj purposing to had a new life, have a 
 lively faith in God^s mercy through Christ, 
 with a thankfid remembrance of his death, 
 and he in charity with all men. All persons 
 are to examine into the state of their souls 
 before they coaie to the Lord's Supper; be- 
 cause without repentance we are not capable 
 of that pardon which is here offered us:§ and 
 it is hy faith that we discern the Lord's body 
 in this sacrament, and receive the spiritual 
 benefits it is designed to convey. || 
 
 The Lord's Supper is not instituted for the 
 nourishment of the body, but for the refresh- 
 ment of the soul; the soul therefore must be 
 put in a proper disposition to receive it, and 
 
 • He that sp^rpd not lii=; own Son. butflelivcred }iim up for us al!, how 
 shall he not with him also freely ^ive us ail thincjs ? Jiom. viij. .32. 
 
 f For we are m.etn!jtrs of kis hody, oi' his flesh, and of his bones. 
 Eph. V . .'.0. 
 
 i- And this is the record, that God hatli given lo us eternal life, and 
 this lif':" is in h»s Son. 1 John v. II. 
 
 ^ Therefore let ns keep the feast, not Mith old leaven, njeiih r with, 
 ♦ he leaven of mdice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of 
 stnct-rity and truth. 1 Cor. v. 8. 
 
 [] I said therefore unto you, That ye shdl die in your sins; for if ye 
 believe not that I am He, ye shall die in vour sins. John viii. 24. 
 
Lord's Supper explained. 21 
 
 feed upon it. It is a liTehj represeritation of 
 the death of Christ for the sms of mankind ; 
 and therefore the soul must possess a just 
 sense of the sufferings of Christ and his love 
 to mankind, and also an humble and lively 
 faith, and hojje in his merits. It is an office 
 of jy^'aise and thanksgiving for the greatest 
 blessings ; redemption from eternal death ; 
 restoration to the favour of God, and a title 
 to everlasting life: to celebrate it aright^ 
 therefore, we must come prepared with a due 
 sense both of the extreme misery of our con- 
 dition without a Redeemer^ and also of the 
 blessings and benefits to which we are entitled 
 through Christ. It is also a memorial of our 
 deliverance from the power of sin, and is the 
 means by which we become partakers of the 
 spirit of God: we should therefore bring with 
 us to this ordinance not only a icilUngness, 
 but a desire for deliverance from the poiver of 
 our sins, and for the assistance of God's hohj 
 spirit to subdue them, with firm resolutions 
 to imjyrove his grace. In this holy sacrament 
 we behold the supreme claim which Christ 
 has to our homage and obedience, since he 
 bought us with the j^^icf^ of his own blood; 
 and therefore we cannot partake of this or- 
 dinance aright, without a just sense of our 
 obligations to serve and obey him as our Lord 
 and Master, and without resigning ourselves 
 to his will. The holy sacrament, under the 
 most impressive and affecting emblems, sets 
 before us the covenant of tneixy and pardo% 
 
22 The Sacrament of the 
 
 to which God is pleased to admit mankind, 
 on condition of their repentance and amend- 
 ment; and hence arises the indispensable 
 necessity of repenting of our past sins, and 
 entering into resolutions of obedience for the 
 future. In this holy supper we hold commu- 
 nion with our felloic Christians, as brethren, 
 and members of the same body under Christ 
 our head ; and hence it follows, that love and 
 unity must be necessary qualifications for a 
 right participation of this sacred ordinance. 
 
 There are some persons who are deterred 
 from this holy supper by the apprehension of 
 the peril ofumcorthy receiving,^ The danger 
 indeed is great to those who will presume to 
 eat tiiis bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, 
 rashly and unadvisedly. But their guilt is not 
 less, nor their situation less hazardous, who 
 persist in disobedience to the last and dying 
 command of their dearest Saviour, and reject 
 his invitation to partake of so many great and 
 spiritual blessings, upon pretence of that dan- 
 ger, which it is in their own power to avoid, 
 
 • The peril of receiving the Lord's Supper untoorthily is heightened 
 in the apprehensions of some persons, hy the derlaration of St. Paul, 
 (1 Cor. xi 29.) He that eateth and drinketh xinworthilii, cateth and 
 drinketh d^omiation to himself. But it is to be observer), that the woi\J 
 damnation does not signify eternal condem'nation, but (as it is transited 
 in the margin of the Hible) temporal ju^/^mcr?/. And the tinioorthy re- 
 ceiving, for which the Corinthian^ were afflicted with temporal jM^/g*- 
 inents, such as sickness and death, (ver. 30.) consisted in their making 
 no distinction between the Lord's Siupper and a common meal. They 
 did not discern the Lord's body, (ver. 29.) They abused and profaned 
 this solemn institution hy gluttony and drunkenness, (ver. 21. 22.) and 
 by contentious and factious behaviour, (ver. 18.) Christians, in the pre- 
 sent day, therefore, unless they, in the same way with the Corinthians, 
 contemn and profane the Lord's Supper, cannot be guilty of that un- 
 loorthy receiving mentioned by St. Paul, for which the Corinthians susr 
 tained not eternal condemnation, but temporal judgment. 
 
Lord^s Supper explained, 23 
 
 Onr safety, therefore, consists in resolving to 
 do the duty required, and to take the best care 
 so to prepare ourselves, that the performance 
 may be accepted by God.^ 
 
 The first duty required of those who come 
 to the Lord's Supper, is to repent them traly 
 of their former sins. We should examine 
 our lives and conversations by the rule of God's 
 commandments ;f and whereinsoever we shall 
 perceive ourselves to have offended, either by 
 will, word, or deed, there we must bewail our 
 own sinfulness,t and confess our guilt to Al» 
 mighty God.§ 
 
 Having examined our lives and confessed 
 our transgressions, and humbled ourselves un- 
 der the sense ofournatural depravity and ac- 
 tual guilt, we should then turn our thoughts 
 upon the only means by which we can be re- 
 deemed from our sin and reconciled to God. 
 The means of our deliverance from sin, and 
 restoration to the divine favour, are provided 
 in the plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, 
 In him ice have redemption, even the forgive- 
 ness of our sins, (Col. i. 14.) Him hath God 
 set forth to be the propitiation for our sins, 
 (Rom. iii. 25.) He is the Mediator heticeen 
 
 • But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and 
 drink of that cup. 1 Cor. xi. 28. 
 
 ■f Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. Lanu 
 iii. 40. 
 
 % Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to 
 repentance. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to 
 be repented of: but the sorrow of the worid worketh death. 2 Cor. vii. 
 §, 10. 
 
 $ For I acknowledge my traasg^essions ; and ray sin is erer before me. 
 Pialm li. 3. 
 
24 The Sacrament of the 
 
 God and man. He gave him'^^elf a ransom 
 for all, (1 Tim. ii. 5, 6 ) I^q \% our Advocate 
 with the Father, (1 John ii. 1.) By liig det-th 
 we are reconciled to God, (Rom. v. 10.) He 
 has made our peace with the Father through 
 ifie blood of his cross, (Col. i. 20.) 
 
 It is a comfort to us, under the burden of 
 our sins, to consider, not only that we have a 
 Saviour and Redeemer, but that he has given 
 humble and penitent si7iners the most gracious 
 invitations and encouragements to come to him 
 for pardon and salvation. Come unto me, 
 says the blessed Jesus, (Mat. xi. 28.) all ye 
 that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will 
 give you rest. He that cometh to me, I will 
 in no wise cast out, (John vi. 37.) And he 
 tenderly declares, (Luke v. 32.) that he came 
 into the world on pijrpose to call sinners to 
 repentance ; and to seek and to save that which 
 was lost, (Luke xix. 10.) 
 
 The consideration of these gracious decla- 
 rations, and of our own vihness and miser y^ 
 "will prepare us to come to Christ with a true 
 and lively faith; neither trusting to our own 
 merits, nor distrusting the mercies of God, 
 but casting ourselves wholly upo?i the merits 
 of Jesus Christ; in a steadfast reliance that 
 through his blood we shall receive the remis- 
 sion of our sins and shall have peace with 
 God. 
 
 But then we must remember that the re- 
 demption of Christ consists in his delivering 
 us nut only from the guilt of our past trans- 
 
Lord^s Supper explained. 25 
 
 gressions, but also from the poicer and domi- 
 nion of sin. Christ gave himself for tiSy not 
 only that he might ixdeem us from all in- 
 iquity, but iikewise that he might j^ur if ij us 
 unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good 
 works, (Heb. ix. 14.) He was manifested, not 
 only to take aicay our sins, but also by his 
 blood to j?zfcr^c our consciences from dead 
 vjorks, to serve the living God, TTitus ii. 14.) 
 INo persons then must hope for any benefit 
 from the death of Christ, but they who will 
 Vd\e the redemption which he wrought, whole 
 and entire; and receive him as a Haviour, not 
 only from the guilt but from tiie dominion of 
 sin. No one must hope for the pardon of 
 his sins but he who sincerely desires lo be 
 delivered from their dominion. 
 
 And therefore having begun the work of 
 repentance, in the confession of our trans- 
 gressions and the humiliation of our souls, 
 we must continue and perfect it, by solemnly 
 professing, in the presence of God, our earn- 
 est desires to be delivered from the j^oicer of 
 sin, and our resolutions, through the assist- 
 ance of his grace, to forsake ungodliness and 
 worldly lusts, (Titus ii. 11, 12.) and to live 
 soberly, righteously, and godly, while he shall 
 please to continue us in this world. 
 
 When, upon examination, w^e can humbly 
 trust that we truly and earnestly repent of 
 our sms, and are in love and charity with our 
 neighbours, and intend to lead a new life, 
 following the commandments of God, and 
 c 
 
26 The Lord^s Supper explained, 
 
 walking in his holy ways, we must then draw 
 near without fear,* and take the holy sacra- 
 ment to our comfort; in firm faith that Al- 
 mighty God, for the sake of our blessed Re- 
 deemer, and the merits of his death, will 
 mercifully pardon us, and graciously receive 
 us as worthy communicants. 
 
 We should behave with all possible rever- 
 ence and devotion, when we present ourselves 
 amongst our brethren who come to feed on 
 the banquet of that most heavenly food. With 
 hearts impressed with penitence, with faith, 
 with reverence and love, we should, at the 
 altar, give most humble and hearty thanks to 
 God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, 
 for all the blessings vouchsafed unto us, but 
 especially for the redemption of the world, 
 by the death and passion of our Saviour 
 Christ, both God and man. 
 
 • For Gnd hftth not given us the spirit of fear ; but of po^er, and of 
 Ibve, and of a sound mind. 2 Tim. i. 7. 
 
THE 
 
 WEEK'S PREPARATION. 
 MOJTDAY MORNING. 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 The Obligation of receiving the Holy Communion stated ; and the various 
 Pretences for neglecting it, considered and refuted. 
 
 The holy eucharist is the highest act of 
 Christian worship. It is the memorial of the 
 passion and death of our blessed Redeemer, 
 made before the Almighty Father, to render 
 him propitious to us, by pleading with him 
 the meritorious sufferings of his beloved Son. 
 It is a sensible pledge of God's love to us. 
 He hath given his Son to die for us. He hath 
 also given the precious body and blood of 
 Christ, to be our spiritual food and susten- 
 ance. The bread of this world, frequently 
 taken, is necessary to keep the body in health 
 and vigour. This bread of God, frequently 
 received, is necessary to preserve the soul in 
 spiritual health ; and to keep the divine life 
 of faith and holiness from becoming extinct. 
 
 An ordinance of so sublime a nature, fruit- 
 ful of such inestimable blessings, and enjoined 
 on us by that blessed Redeemer who laid 
 down his life for us, one would suppose would 
 
28 Monday Morning, 
 
 be highly valued, and gratefully received, by 
 all who profess themselves Christians. It is, 
 however, a lamentable truth, that the greater 
 proportion of them live in the habitual neglect 
 of this distinguishing badge of their holy pro- 
 fession, the ordinance which unites them to 
 their Redeemer, and which is the invaluable 
 seal and pledge of his mercy and grace. 
 
 Thou art urged, O my soul, to receive the 
 holy communion by the obligations of duty , 
 of gratitude, and oiinterest. 
 
 Duty urges thee ; Christ, the Lord, and 
 Saviour, has commanded thee to receive the 
 communion, in remembrance of his death 
 and passion. " Do this," says he, " in remem- 
 brance' of liie," (Luke xxii. 19.) Are w^e not 
 bound to revere and cherish, with the most 
 sacred fervour, the command of a dying 
 friend! And shall we be insensible to the 
 pressing injunction gf our Lord and Master, 
 who, at the moment wlien he was about to 
 lay down his life for us, even for us who were 
 his enemies, commanded us to commemorate 
 his infinite love \ 
 
 The powerful claims of gratitude urge 
 obedience to his command. Transcendent 
 were the love and compassion which he dis- 
 played for us. " The Son of God, the bright- 
 ness of the Father's glory, humbled himself 
 even to the death upon the cross for us, mis- 
 erable sinners, who lay in darkness and the 
 shadow of death." He instituted and ordained 
 holy mysteries, as pledges of his infinite love, 
 
Monday Morning, 29 
 
 and for a continual remembrance of his death 
 and passion. And shall we not gratefully 
 commemorate his love towards us, in the way 
 that he hath appointed 1 Shall we refuse to 
 render him even the tribute of thanks for the 
 inconceivable sufferings which he endured for 
 us, and for the inestimable blessings which 
 he purchased for us ] By neglecting the in- 
 stituted memorial of his love and mercy, O 
 my soul, thou dost say to thy blessed Re- 
 deemer, I cherish no sensibility for thy suffer- 
 ings; I care not, though the displays of thine 
 infinite love be forgotten ; I set no value on 
 the infinite condescensions of thy mercy. 
 Pause and reflect, O my soul, if thou dost 
 neglect this sacred ordinance, how great is 
 the guilt of ingratitude which thou wilt incur. 
 But if duty does not impel, if gratitude 
 cannot excite thee, listen, at least, to the calls 
 oi interest. Consider how many inestimable 
 benefits are annexed to this ordinance. The 
 pardon of sin; the assistance and consola- 
 tions of Godh Holy Spirit ; and an earnest 
 and pledge of a glorious resurrection to eter- 
 nal life, are the benefits assured to us by a 
 worthy participation of the body and blood 
 of Christ. When, therefore, we absent our- 
 selves from the holy sacrament, we wilfully 
 deprive ourselves of the greatest blessings 
 Shall not, then, the powerful considerations 
 oi interest urge us worthily to partake of an 
 ordinance which rescues us from the guilt of 
 sin, from the curse of God, from everlasting 
 
 C 2 
 
30 Monday Mqrmtig. 
 
 wo ? Shall we deliberately contemn the fa- 
 vour of G.od, the consolations and powerful 
 operations of his Spirit, and the immortal 
 felicities of his heavenly kingdom 1 Not less 
 is the folly than the guilt of neglecting this 
 inestimable pledge of divine mercy, of grace, 
 of immortal life and glory. 
 
 Wilt thou urge, O my soul, the cares of the 
 world as an excuse for not coming to the holy 
 communionl What ! art thou so engaged 
 with worldly business, that thou canst not 
 find time to approach this heavenly institu- 
 tion'? Ah! remember, they who were bidden 
 to the supper in the Gospel, (Luke xiv. 16.) 
 excused themselves from coming, on the pre- 
 tence of their worldly occupations ; and they 
 were pronounced unworthy of the heavenly 
 feast, because they thus preferred their tem- 
 poral business to their eternal welfare. No 
 man is rendered unfit for receiving the holy 
 sacrament, who pursues tlie occupations of 
 life with moderation and honesty^ with a due 
 regard to the laws of God, and his good pro- 
 vidence over us. Whoever pursues thenrt 
 otherwise, disqualifies himself for heaven. 
 The hearts of men are apt lo dwell too much 
 upon the things of this world, and to be en-, 
 grossed with its cares and concerns, God. 
 has, therefore, mercifully provided the ordin- 
 ances of the Gospel, to raise our souls from 
 the earth, and to replenish them with hea- 
 venly thoughts and desires. It is necessary,, 
 therefore, that all Christians should attend 
 
Monday Mornmg, 31 
 
 on the ordinances of religion, in order that 
 such devout emotions, such a desire for hea- 
 venly enjoynients, rnay be excited in their 
 minds, as shall prevent them from being 
 buried in the cares and pursuits of this hfe. 
 
 Art thou deterred from the holy commu- 
 nion, O my soul, by a sense of thy unworthi- 
 ness \ But this sense of thy unworthiness, 
 when it produces a resolution to forsake thy 
 sins, is the first qualification of a devout com- 
 municant; for it is the first step towards re- 
 conciliation with God. Jesus Christ particu- 
 larly invites those who are weary and heavy 
 laden with the burden of their sins, and earn- 
 estly desire to be delivered from them, to 
 come unto him and receive rest. And to 
 these humble penitents does he dispense, in 
 his holy sapper, pardon, comfort, and spiritual 
 strength. 
 
 Art thgu afraid, O my soul', to come to the 
 holy table, because in the daily business of 
 the world thou art surrounded with tempta- 
 tions which may lead thee to break thy solemn 
 resolutions ! The lawful business of life never 
 exposes men to temptations, which they can- 
 not, through the assistance of God's orrace> 
 overcome by care and watchfulness. A view 
 of the temptations to which thou art exposed, 
 should lead thee to the table, of the Lord, for 
 new supplies of spiritual strength to resist 
 them. 
 
 Art thoa deterred from this holy sacrament, 
 Q my soul, by tlie apprehension that sin com 
 
32 Monday Morning, 
 
 mitted after receiving it, will never be for- 
 given \ Do not thus impiously distrust the 
 mercy of God. Through the frailty of thy 
 nature, and the manifold temptations which 
 encompass thee, thou dost frequently trans- 
 gress, and fall short of thy duty. Thou hast, 
 therefore, the greater need of that mercy, 
 and those succours of grace, which are con- 
 veyed in the holy eucharist to the humble and 
 penitent. Be watchful over thy ways ; pray 
 for the grace of God to enable thee to perform 
 thy vows of obedience to him; strive to get 
 the mastery over thy sinful passions ; and 
 then come with humble confidence to that 
 holy supper which seals to thee the gracious 
 assurance that thou hasi an Advocate with 
 the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and 
 that he is the propitiation for thy sins. Fre- 
 quent commemoration of the love of thy 
 Redeemer in the holy communion \yill tend 
 to cherish all thy pious graces, and especially 
 that lively faith in his mercy which will pro- 
 duce peace of conscience, and joy in the fa- 
 vour of thy God. 
 
 Do not delay thy reception of the Lord's 
 Supj)er in the presumptuous expectation of 
 beincr able to receive it on the bed of death. 
 Alas! how canst ihou prepare for this holy 
 ordinance amidst the pains and agonies of a 
 dying bed 1 How canst thou be certain, that 
 death will not suddenly arrest thee] Do not 
 flatter thyself with the uncertain hope of 
 length of days, or of such warning of death 
 
Monday Morning. o3 
 
 as will enable thee to prepare for its sum- 
 mons. Enter in earnest, and without delay, 
 on the business of salvation. Inform thyself 
 in the nature of the holy communion. Make 
 suitable preparation for receiving it. Partake 
 frequently of this heavenly banquet, during 
 the period of health. Thus accustomed to 
 the duties and exercises of the Christian life, 
 thou wilt be fitted to receive the holy eucha- 
 rist during sickness, or on a dying bed, as 
 thy support at this trying hour, as the seal of 
 God's pardon, as the pledge of thy triumphant 
 passage through the grave and gate of death 
 to immortal blessedness and glory. 
 
 Vain are all the pretences which would 
 keep thee from the table of the Lord. By 
 neglect of this holy institution, thou wilt for- 
 feit inestimable blessings, thou wult incur the 
 heaviest guilt. To work out thy salvation, is 
 the one thing needful ; to secure immortal 
 blessedness, an object of supreme import- 
 ance. In tender compassion, the Redeemer 
 hath provided, in his holy supper, the means 
 of thy reconciliation to thy offended God, and 
 of thy restoration to holiness and glory. Im- 
 pressed with his infinite goodness, and earn- 
 estly desirous to be partaker of his salvation, 
 resolve to commemorate his love in his holy 
 supper; and receiving in penitence and faith, 
 the symbols of his body and blood, becomq 
 partaker of his mercy, his grace, his everlastr 
 ing glory. 
 
34 Monday Morning. 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 Suited particularly to the State of a Person who, having lived in forgetful- 
 ness of God, and in the neglect of his Christian Obligations, is awakened 
 to a sense of his Cuilt and Danger, and is desii-ous to seal his Pardon 
 and lleconciliation with God, in the Holy Sacrament. 
 
 O Lord God, to whom I am bound by the 
 most powerful and endearing ties ! For thou 
 art the author and preserver of my being, the 
 source of all my mercies, my everlasting Re- 
 deemer and Judge : Thou hast lighted up in 
 my soul those immortal powers, by which I 
 am rendered capable of the fruition of thee, 
 the fountain of perfection and bliss. Thy gra- 
 cious Providence has conducted me through 
 the dangers and trials of life : — thy rich bounty 
 has supplied all my wants, and crowned my 
 lot with mercy and loving-kindness ; — thy un- 
 merited grace has offered to me the blessings 
 of everlasting life and redemption. O my 
 God ! I acknowledge, that the sincere and 
 ardent service of my past life, would have 
 been a feeble return to thee, for thine infinite 
 love. With shame I confess, that even this 
 inadequate tribute has been withheld from 
 thee. With shame I confess, that though 
 the solemn engagements of Baptism were 
 imposed upon me, and its quickening grace 
 conferred ; though the fountain of thy mercy 
 has been opened to me, in the sacrament of 
 the body and blood of thy Son ; though the 
 sacred obligations and exalted rewards of thy 
 service have been continually displayed to me, 
 in the ministrations of the sanctuary ; though 
 
Monday Morning, 35 
 
 thy Providence has called, thy Holy Spirit 
 warned me, I have yet continued insensible 
 to the claims of thy love, to my own highest 
 duty and happiness. O Lord, 1 have violated 
 the most solemn obligations. 1 have been 
 insensible to the most exalted privileges. I 
 have resisted the solicitations of thy grace, 
 though urged by the precious blood of thy 
 beloved Son, which was poured forth a sacri- 
 fice for my sins. For ever blessed be thy 
 long-suffering mercy, O my God ! that thou 
 hast not given me up to the fruit of my own 
 ways, that thou hast not inflicted upon me the 
 punishment due to my ingratitude and guilt. 
 Blessed be that grace, Almighty God, which 
 has awakened me to an apprehension of my 
 guilt and danger, to a sense of thine infinite 
 claims to my homage and obedience. O do 
 thou strengthen my desires of returning unto 
 thee ; my humble but earnest resolutions of 
 choosing thee, as my satisfying portion. And 
 for as much as thou hast opened lo the humble 
 and penitent, in the holy sacrament of the 
 altar, the renovating fountain of grace and 
 mercy, let me not neglect this endearing 
 pledge of my Saviour's love. Prepare my 
 heart, by the powerful influence of thy grace, 
 for worthily receiving the crucified body and 
 blood of my blessed Lord. Awaken my con- 
 trition, quicken my faith, enliven my love, 
 confirm my resolutions of obedience; that 
 going to the altar, relying on my Redeemer's 
 merits and his righteousness, I may obtain 
 
36 Monday Evening, 
 
 reconciliation with thee, my God — may re- 
 ceive supplies of that quickening grace, which 
 will concluct me through the sorrows and 
 temptations of this mortal pilgrimage, to the 
 blissful fruition, in the heavenly Zion, of the 
 everlasting glories of the Godhead ; to whom, 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, my almighty 
 Creator, my merciful Redeemer, my eternal 
 Sanctifier, be ascribed all power and might, 
 majesty and dominion, henceforth and for 
 ever. Amen, 
 
 MOSTDAY EVENING. 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 The Christian directfed in the serious Examination of his Spiritual Charac- 
 ter and State, as preparatory to his receiving the Holy Conmiuninn. 
 
 Wise is the choice thou hast made, O my 
 soul, to serve thy God ; wise thy resolution 
 to commemorate, in the holy eucharist, the 
 infinite love of thy Saviour, who, by his death, 
 purchased thy redemption, and offers thee, 
 in that holy ordinance, all the inestimable 
 blessings of his passion. 
 
 But recollect, O my soul, that if thou dost 
 advance, impenitent, to the supper of thy 
 Lord, he will not accept thee as his guest ; 
 thou wilt not be nourished with that spiritual 
 food which diffuses its life-giving power only 
 through the heart of the penitent believer. 
 The c^aviour withholds the blessings of his 
 grace from those who, unafiected with the 
 
Monday Evening. 37 
 
 condescensions of his mercy, and insensible 
 to iheir own weakness and demerit, approach 
 his altar witli impenitent and unmortified 
 hearts. 
 
 Unless, therefore, I come to the altar cher- 
 ishing a lively sense of the weakness and sin- 
 fulness of my heart, by which 1 have been 
 led to transgress the holy laws of my God ; 
 deeply sensible that the only pledge of my 
 forgiveness is the meritorious atonement of 
 my Saviour ; and steadfastly resolving that, 
 by the aids of his grace, I will renounce all 
 my sins, and faithfully serve him : unless I 
 come to the altar in this character of an hum- 
 ble penitent, I must not hope to partake of 
 the blessings of salvation ; or to experience 
 those divine joys, those strengthening suc- 
 cours, which refresh the souls of those who, 
 by a true and lively faith, spiritually feed on 
 the body and blood of their crucified Re- 
 deemer. 
 
 To prepare then for partaking of this holy 
 ordinance, and to secure the inestimable bless- 
 ings which are dispensed in it to penitent be- 
 lievers, I must impartially search my heart, 
 and faithfully examine the course of my life, 
 in order to ascertain my spiritual character 
 and state. 
 
 Dispose me earnestly and seriously to enter 
 on this examination. Almighty God ; impress 
 on me the infinite importance of determining 
 the state of my soul — whether I am at peace 
 with thee, through penitence and faith in the 
 
 D 
 
38 Monday Evening, 
 
 blood of tliy Son; or am obnoxious, through 
 unrepented sin, to thy just displeasure. En- 
 able me, with faithfulness, to search my heart, 
 knowing that my eternal destiny depends on 
 the issue. Thy powerful grace only can de- 
 tect the errors of my life, and strip from my 
 heart the veil of self-love which conceals its 
 vices. Do thou, therefore, O God, try me, 
 and seek the ground of mine heart ; prove me, 
 and examine my thoughts, and see if there be 
 any evil way in me, and lead me in the way 
 everlasting. 
 
 As in thy presence, and exposed to thy in- 
 spection, O thou God, who searchest the 
 heart, who canst not be deceived, and who 
 wilt not be mocked, — as before thy tribunal, 
 O thou Sovereign Judge of men, who wilt 
 bring to light every secret thing, whether it 
 be good, or whether it be evil, do T now seri- 
 ously enter on the examination of the condi- 
 tion of my soul. Impress on my heart, O 
 God, by thy Holy Spirit, the solemn inquiries 
 which I now make. May I faithfully answer 
 them to my own conscience, as I shall cer- 
 tainly have to answer them at thy tribunal, 
 to thee, my Almighty Judge. 
 
 Am I a member of the Church of Christ, 
 which he purcliased with his blood, which lie 
 sanctifies with his Spirit, and which, accord- 
 ing to his sovereign pleasure, is made the 
 channel of his covenanted mercies to a fallen 
 world ? 
 
Monday Evening. 39 
 
 Have I been admitted to the participation 
 of the inestimable privileges of this Church, 
 to a title to the forgiveness of sin, to the fa- 
 vour of God, to the aids of the Holy Spirit, 
 to an inheritance in the kingdom of heaven ; 
 by that ordinance, which Jesus Christ, its 
 divine head, instituted, the holy sacrament of 
 Baptism 1 
 
 Do I keep up my communion with this 
 Church, by devout submission to the minis- 
 trations of its priesthood in the orders of Bi- 
 shops, Priests, and Deacons, deriving their 
 authority by regular transmission from Jesus 
 Christ, the Redeemer and Head of the Church, 
 who has promised to be with the ministers of 
 apostolic succession " always, even to the end 
 of the world I" 
 
 Have I been diligent in imploring, by earn- 
 est prayer, the aids of the Holy Spirit, to en- 
 able me to fulfil my baptismal vows, ^' to re- 
 nounce the devil and all his works, to believe 
 in God, and to serve him 1" 
 
 Have 1 ratified, in the holy rite of Confir- 
 mation, the vows and promises of Baptism, 
 receiving, by the ministry of Christ's author- 
 ized servant, the manifold and strengthening- 
 aids of the Holy Ghost 1 
 
 Have all my violations of these solemn en- 
 gagements, all my infirmities and sins, been 
 cleansed by repentance, and by renewed faith 
 in the blood of Christ? 
 
 Have I frequently contemplated, with deep 
 humiliation, the state of depravity and guilt. 
 
40 Monday Evening, 
 
 in which man is sunk, while destitute of aa 
 interest in the merits of a Saviour \ 
 
 Have I reviewed, with lively compunction, 
 the transgressions which have defiled my con- 
 science ] 
 
 In the bitterness of my spirit, have I ac- 
 knowledged the justice of God in my con- 
 demnation^ Have I humbly and fervently 
 adored the fulness of his grace and mercy in 
 providing for me the means of redemption 
 through Jesus Christ! 
 
 Awakened to a lively sense of my sins, 
 have I fled, with earnest supplication, to the 
 throne of my Almighty Judge, and reverently 
 presented there, as the only plea of my for- 
 giveness, the meritorious blood of my Re- 
 deemer \ 
 
 Has faith opened to me the fulness and 
 sufficiency of my Saviour^s merits, and con- 
 veyed to tny troubled conscience rest and 
 peace I 
 
 Have I experienced the power of divine 
 grace, in awakening my sensibility to the evil 
 and guilt of sin, to the excellence and rewards 
 of holiness, and in exciting the resolution to 
 renounce all the dictates of my corrupt nature, 
 and to devote myself to my God and Saviour, 
 in the services of a holy life \ 
 
 Am I sincerely desirous, and always ready, 
 to partake of the holy eucharist, thereby to 
 commemorate the dying love of my Re- 
 deemer ; to testify my communion with his 
 Church and people ; to plead before God, for 
 
Monday Evening, 41 
 
 the pardon of my sins, the all-prevailing 
 merits of his cross and passion ; and to re- 
 fresh and strengthen my soul with his most 
 precious body and blood \ 
 
 Am I diligent and faithful in all the exer- 
 cises and duties of the Christian lifel 
 
 Am I uniform and sincere in the duties of 
 private meditation and prayer, in all those 
 pious exercises which have a tendency to 
 strengthen the reign of grace in my heart"? 
 
 Are the services of God's sanctuary the 
 source of my most exalted pleasures^ 
 
 Do I with constant and holy desire wait in 
 his sacred courts, that I may taste his good- 
 ness, and experience his satisfying joys? 
 
 Sensible of my own weakness, and of the 
 dominion of sin in my heart, do I earnestly 
 implore the grace of God, and constantly rely 
 on the powerful agency of the Holy Spirit, to 
 sanctify my soul, to guide, quicken, and pre- 
 serve me in my Christian course 1 
 
 In reliance on the aids of this Holy Spirit, 
 do I daily endeavour to weaken and subdue 
 my sinful passions, to strengthen and exalt the 
 holy graces of my soull 
 
 Does my humility become more deep, my 
 love to God more fervent, my zeal and delight 
 in his service more exalted, my faith in my 
 Saviour more uniform and supreme] 
 
 Does my soul glow with gratitude to God, 
 my Almighty Maker and Benefactor, Father 
 
 D 2 
 
42 Mojiday Evening, 
 
 and Friend, for the manifold mercies of life ; 
 and, above all, for the unspeakable gift of his 
 Son Jesus Christ, for the inestimable blessings 
 of redeeming love 1 
 
 In every event of life, do I humbly confide 
 in his wisdom, power, and goodness, and com- 
 mit myself to his guidance and disposal^ 
 
 In prosperity am I humble and thankful, 
 mindful that every advantage of honour or for- 
 tune, every talent that distinguishes me above 
 others, is the unmerited gift of God, which I 
 am to employ for his glory and the good of 
 my fellow men I 
 
 When adversity assails me, do I still pre- 
 serve my confidence in God, — still bless the 
 Lord '^who giveth," and humbly bow to the 
 dispensations of that infinitely wise and mer- 
 ciful God, ^' who taketh away I" 
 
 Ever keeping in view the holy pattern of 
 my Saviour's life, which I am bound to imi- 
 tate, do I constantly endeavour to obey his 
 gracious commands; to become^ like him, 
 meek and gentle, kind and compassionate, 
 patient and long-suffering I 
 
 Animated by that spirit of love which urged 
 the Saviour to pour out his soul a sacrifice 
 for the sins of men, do I earnestly endeavour 
 to " do good unto all men ;" to sooth the 
 bosom rent with affliction ; to restore to health 
 and gladness the subjects of disease and 
 poverty 1 
 
 Sensible of the inestimable value of the 
 blessings of redemption, and of the infinite 
 
Monday Evening, 45 
 
 importance of the souls of men, do I humbly 
 endeavour, by every proper and prudent mean, 
 to promote the salvation of mankind] 
 
 Under an habitual sense of my obligations 
 to God, of the account I must render to him 
 who is the present witness, and who will be 
 the final judge of my conduct, do I earnestly 
 endeavour faithfully to discharge all the rela- 
 tive and social duties of life, of husband and 
 wife, of parent and child, of brother and sis- 
 ter, of master and servant, of magistrate and 
 subject, of neighbour and friend I 
 
 Ever mindful that my " body is the temple 
 of the Holy Spirit," and that " into the kingr 
 dom of heaven entereth nothing that is unholy 
 and unclean," do I endeavour, by abstinence, 
 by prayer, by resolution and watchfulness, to 
 mortify my sinful passions ; and do I sedu- 
 lously avoid every temptation which might lead 
 me to violate the laws of temperance, sober- 
 ness, and chastity 1 
 
 Considering the present life as a state of 
 pilgrimage, the days of which are few, uncer- 
 tain, and evil, am I careful not to fix my af- 
 fections immoderately upon it; not to be too 
 highly elated with its pleasures, which may 
 soon pass away ; not to be too much depressed 
 by its sorrows, which may soon terminate \ 
 
 Does my heavenly inheritance, the eternal 
 kingdom of God, with whom there is fulness 
 of joy, at whose right hand there are plea- 
 sures for evermore, engage my devout con- 
 t^mplatipns I 
 
44 Monday Evening, 
 
 Does the habitual prospect of the eternal 
 glories which my fSaviour hath prepared for 
 me in his heavenly kingdom, animate me in 
 the discharge of duty ; elevate my spirit when 
 under the pressure of grief ; console me under 
 the loss of friends and relatives ; and raise me 
 at all times above the sorrows and trials, the 
 scorn and persecution of the world \ 
 
 Is this my situation \ this my spiritual cha- 
 racter and state 1 these the dispositions of my 
 souH 
 
 That I have been called, from the darkness 
 of error and sin, into the light of the gospel 
 of salvation ; and restored f\om the bondage 
 of Satan, into the glorious liberty of the sons 
 of God,— 
 
 Blessed he thy name, O God, 
 
 That I have been admitted by baptism, into 
 that iioly church where thy mercy is my solace, 
 thy favour my portion, thy grace my guide and 
 safeguard, the hope of heaven my exalted pri- 
 vilege, — 
 
 Blessed be thy name, O God, 
 
 That, in condescension to the weakness of 
 my nature, thou hast instituted sensible memo- 
 rials of thy love, and pledges of thy grace and 
 mercy; that in the humble participation of the 
 ordinances of thy church I can derive light, 
 comfort, and salvation, — 
 
 Blessed be thy narne, O God. 
 
Monday Evening, 45 
 
 ^ The following paragraph, between brackets, is to be used when a 
 pei-son who has lived in transgression rf the laws cf Go<l, and neglect 
 of his Christian obligations, is awakened to a sense of his guilt and dan- 
 ger, and is desirous to raake bis peace with his offerided God. And 
 then the succireding paragraphs, to the words " To thee, ever-blessed 
 Jehovah," hue. are to be omitted. 
 
 [That, though I have lived wholly regard- 
 less of the inestimable privileges of my Chris- 
 tian vocation ; though by my habitual trans- 
 gressions I have defied thy power, abused thy 
 justice, and contemned thy mercy ; though 
 the strivings of thy Spirit have been exerted 
 in vain, and the precious blood of thy Son 
 been in vain interposed to arrest my rebellious 
 career ; — that though my sins have been thus 
 multiplied, my guilt thus aggravated, thou 
 hast yet, O God of infinite mercies, displayed 
 towards me the riches of thy forbearance ; 
 that thine arms are yet open to receive the 
 returning prodigal who left his father's house 
 to riot in the pleasures of a corrupting world ; 
 that thou dost even prepare for me, to be the 
 pledge and seal of my forgiveness, the ban- 
 quet of the body and blood of that Redeemer 
 whom I have contemned; and art ready to 
 apply to my guilty soul my Saviour's merits ; 
 that thou hast awakened me to a sense of my 
 guilt and danger, and inspired me with an 
 earnest desire to enjoy the light of thy coun- 
 tenance, — 
 
 Blessed he thy name, O God, 
 
 O Lord, arise and save me, and let not in- 
 iquity prove my ruin.] 
 
 That thou hast quickened me when I was 
 careless and forgetful of thee ; and instead 
 
46 Monday Evening. 
 
 of giving me up to hardness of heart, to the 
 merited punishment of my sins, hast graci- 
 ously awakened and restored me ; that when 
 sunk under the *^ grievous remembrance" of 
 my sins, and bowed down under their " in- 
 tolerable burden," thou didst enlighten my 
 soul to discern the riches of mercy and grace 
 in Christ Jesus, and enable me joyfully to 
 rest in him as tcisdom and righteousness , 
 sanctification and redemption, — 
 
 Blessed he thy name, O God. 
 
 That I have been excited to choose thee, 
 O God, as my portion ; that my soul has been 
 in any degree inflamed with love and grati- 
 tude to thee, with trust in thy power and 
 goodness ; that the graces of humility, meek- 
 ness, purity, and love have in any degree 
 established their reign in my heart ; that I 
 have been anabled to adorn the doctrine of 
 God my Saviour, by a virtuous life, and to 
 imitate the blessed example of the holy Jesus, 
 by doing good unto my fellow men, — 
 
 Blessed be thy name, O God. 
 
 That when, from the infirmities of my na- 
 ture, or the predominance of my sinful pas- 
 sions, I am led to forget thee, my God, to 
 violate my vows of duty, and to put my Sa- 
 viour to an open shame by my sins, — thou 
 dost not " cast me off for ever," but art still 
 willing to be *^ entreated," and to restore to 
 me *' the joy of thy free Spirit," — 
 
 Blessed he thy name, O God. 
 
 That thou art graciously pleased to pro- 
 
Monday Evening, 47 
 
 mise to reward my imperfect services, with 
 the eternal fruition of the glories of ihy pre- 
 sence ; that amidst the carf^s, the occupations, 
 and the ensnaring pleasures of the world, I 
 have heen enabled to set my affections on ihe 
 felicities of thnt heavenly kingdom, for which, 
 throutjfh thy uiercy, I am destined, — 
 
 Blessed be thy name, O God, 
 
 That thou hast provided, for the sustenance 
 and refreshment of my frail nature, while I 
 sojourn in this vale of infirmity and sin, 
 celestial food, even the body and blood of thy 
 crucified Son, spiritually conveyed under the 
 emblems of bread and wine ; and that thou 
 dost now invite me to the glorious banquet 
 of the Lamb that was slain to redeem me by 
 his blood, — 
 
 Blessed be thy name, O God, 
 
 O, while I extol the wonders of thy mercy, 
 and gratefully celebrate the triumphs of thy 
 grace — may I be excited to aim at the highest 
 degrees of holiness and virtue, as becometh 
 the redeemed of the Lord. 
 
 Evermore, O Lord, refresh me by thy 
 mercy. 
 
 Evermore guide me by thy grace. 
 
 To thee, ever-blessed Jehovah, be ascribed 
 all the glory and praise of my redemption. 
 
 For thou, O Almighty Father, didst give 
 for me thine only-begotten Son ; thou, O 
 eternal Son, wast for me obedient to the death 
 
48 Monday Evening, 
 
 of the cross; thou, O Holy Ghost, dost apply 
 to my soiij the mercies of redemption. 
 
 Glory be to the Father, the fountain of 
 mercy. Glory be to the Son, the Redeemer 
 of mankind. Glory be to the Holy Ghost, 
 the guide, the comforterj and sanctifier of 
 the faithful. 
 
 Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power 
 be unto our God, for ever and ever. 
 
 Alas, O God, the songs o^ praise must be 
 exchanged for the sighs oi contrition. 
 
 For to thee, O Lord, belongeth rigteous- 
 ness ; but unto me confusion of face — for I 
 have violated thy law* 
 
 When 1 have done all, I am bound to con- 
 fess that I am but an unprofitable servant ; 
 and must expect the rewards of heaven as 
 the free gift of unmerited mercy. 
 
 How much more then am I bound earnestly 
 to deprecate the inflictions of thy justice, 
 when the course of my life has been marked 
 by many wilful transgressions of thy laws! 
 
 I will confess mine iniquity. 
 
 I will be sorry for my sins. 
 
 A CONFESSION OF SIN. 
 
 {Frtm the Liturgy of the Church.) 
 
 Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men ; 
 I acknowledge and bewail my manifold sins 
 
J^onday Evening. 4^ 
 
 and wickedness, which I from time to time 
 most grievously have committed, by thought, 
 word, and deed, against thy divine majesty, 
 provoking most justly thy wrath and indigna- 
 tion against me. I do earnestly repent, and 
 am heartily sorry for these my misdoings; 
 the remembrance* of them is grievous unto 
 me; the burden of them is intolerable. Have 
 mercy upon me, have mercy upon me, most 
 merciful Father; for thy Son Jesus Christ's 
 sake forgive me all that is past. To thee 
 only it appertaineth to forgive sins : spare me, 
 therefore, good Lord, spare me. My con- 
 science by sin is accused — O may I be ab- 
 solved by thy merciful pardon. Lamb of God, 
 who takesi away the sins of the world, have 
 mercy upon me! Lamb of God, who takest 
 away the sins of the world, grant me thy 
 peace ! O God, whose nature and property 
 it is ever to have mercy and to forgive, re- 
 ceive my humble petitions ! and though I am 
 lied and fast bound by the chain of my sins, 
 yet let the pitifulness of thy great mercy loose 
 me, through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Re- 
 deemer. Amen, 
 
 THE SUPPLICATION. 
 
 Blessed Lord ! who art ever merciful and 
 gracums, not willing the death of a sinner, 
 but rather that he should repent and live; 
 and who hast given thine only Son to be a 
 propitiation for the sins of the world, that 
 
 E 
 
50 Monday Evening. 
 
 whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
 but have everlasting lite ; with the deepest 
 reverence I adore thine infinite love. What 
 is man, O Lord, that thou shouldest be tlius 
 mindful of him] or the son of man, that thou 
 shouldest thus mercifnlly visit him 1 O God, 
 I confess and lament that 1 have been insen- 
 sible to the claims of thy love, and, by my 
 aggravated sins, have forfeited all title to thy 
 mercy. Blessed be thy name, that thou hast 
 laid on Jesus Christ the iniquities of mankind. 
 Blessed be thy name, that in him there is 
 mercy and plenteous redemption. O make 
 me deeply sensible of my need of the merits 
 and grace of my Redeemer. Penetrate me 
 with a conviction of my weakness and de- 
 pravity, of my guilt and unworthiness, that I 
 may be excited to flee for refuge from the 
 %vrath to come, to the hope set before me in 
 the Gospel. Blessed Jesus! cleanse me by 
 thy precious blood, and sanctify my corrupt 
 nature by thy grace. Discerning thy all- 
 sufficiency to save and to redeem, may my 
 trust be reposed on thee alone. O merciful 
 God ! inspire in my heart a supreme concern 
 for the things that belong to my eternal peace. 
 May the salvation of my soul engross my most 
 earnest attention. Impress on me the folly 
 and the guilt of sacrificing my immortal in- 
 terests to the perishing pleasures of the 
 world. O do thou quicken in my heart, Al- 
 mighty God, the apprehension of my guilt 
 and danger while in rebellion against thee. 
 
Tuesday \formng. 51 
 
 Strengthen the desires which thy grace has 
 awakened, for that satisfying peace which 
 thou dost confer on the humble suppliants for 
 thy mercy. And since thou hast instituted 
 ordinances to be the channels of conveying 
 thy grace to the soul, may I reverently submit 
 to thy appointments, and gratefully seek thy 
 favour, in the way which thou hast appointed. 
 To that holy sacrament, where Jesus the Sa- 
 viour dispenses everlasting salvation, may 1 
 bring a heart humbled by thy grace, affections 
 supremely desirous ofthe joys of thy love; that 
 thus I may be restored to the reconciled coun- 
 tenance of thee, my God, through Jesus Christ, 
 my blessed Lord and Redeemer. Amen. 
 
 TUESDAY MORNIXG. 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 Man in his Natural State. 
 
 The examination of thy character and state, 
 O my soul, should have occupied thy deep 
 attention. The inquiry v/as calculated to 
 display, in the most engaging colours, the 
 infinite love of God in all his dispensations 
 towards thee as thy Creator, thy Preserver, 
 thy everlasting Redeemer. Insensible hast 
 thou been, if the lively emotions of gratitude 
 have not been enkindled by the review. In- 
 sensible hast thou been, if the infinite mercies 
 which thou hast reviewed, exciting every ten- 
 
52 Tuesday Morning, 
 
 der affeclion, have not been celebrated in the 
 ascription of praise to the greatest and best 
 of beings, thy Father, Redeemer, and God. 
 
 Thou hast hveu exposed to the holy in- 
 spection of that God, who brings to light the 
 most secret actions. The inquiry in which 
 thou hast been engaged, involves thy present 
 peace, thy everlasting welfare. If, then, the 
 examination has been conducted with that 
 solicitude and impartiality which these awful 
 considerations are calculated to excite, thou 
 hast found, O my soul, that thou art guilty, 
 deeply guilty, in the sight of thy holy Judge. 
 The searching beams of the Spirit of God 
 have disclosed the depths of thy depravity and 
 guilt. The view of the infection of sin, which 
 diffuses itself through thy powers and affec- 
 tions, must have laid prostrate thy claims to 
 that purity which rendered thee the delight 
 of thy Maker, wdien at the first his voice 
 arrayed thee with the glories of his image. 
 Alas ! •' How has the gold become dim ! how 
 has the fine gold become changed ! the crown 
 has fallen from my head. Wo unto me, for 
 I have sinned !" 
 
 An understanding once enlivened by the 
 beams of divine light, no longer intuitively 
 discerns the glory of God, and attains a full 
 knowledge of his laws. Its powers, enfeebled 
 and depraved, are the sport of prejudice and 
 passion, which pervert its researches. A will, 
 which once followed the enlightened dictates 
 of the understanding, and centered all its 
 
Tuesday Morning, 53 
 
 pursuits in God, as the supreme object of its 
 choice, now obeys the dictates of ignoble 
 passions. With fearless presumption, it im- 
 piously turns, in rebellion against God, the 
 very energies which it holds dependent on his 
 power. It wilfully chooses those debasing 
 pleasures, which are directly opposed to that 
 divine law in which it once placed its perfec- 
 tion and delight. Affections, which glowed 
 with love to God, in the fruition of whose 
 favour they were rewarded with per-fect bliss, 
 are now bound in the chains of sensual appe- 
 tite. Depraved and corrupt, they now eagerly 
 pursue the perishing enjoyments of sense, 
 and contemn the communion which it was 
 once their glory to maintain with the source 
 of purity and love. Now, disdaining the bliss 
 which flows from the light of Gorl's counte- 
 nance, they seek the gratification of those 
 grovelling propensities which ally the aspiring 
 nature of man to the brutes that perish. O 
 my soul! when I contrast the exalted powers 
 M'hich, in thy primeval state, conformed thee 
 to the image of thy Creator, and admitted 
 thee to the enjoyment of his love, with the 
 corrupting passions by which thou art now 
 enslaved ; can I wonder, that, till restored by 
 his grace to the glorious image which thou 
 hast forfeited, thou dost labour under the 
 weight of his displeasure, under his awful 
 curse \ 
 
 Abasing to thy pride, painful to thy self- 
 love, O my soul, but certain as the oracles of 
 
 E2 
 
54 Tuesday Morning. 
 
 truth in which it is revealed, and as that 
 divine plan of salvation of which it is the 
 basis, is the truth, that human nature is de- 
 generate and corrupt. When the holy Job, 
 borne down by the blaze of divine glory which 
 displayed the corruption of his nature, vents 
 his contrition in the exclamation, " I abhor 
 myself, and repent in dust and ashes;" when 
 the holy king of Israel, awakened to remorse 
 at the view of crimes of the deepest dye, 
 which, through the rage of fell lust, he had 
 committed, follows back his guilt to its source, 
 a degenerate nature, — declaring in penitential 
 confession, that he was " conceived in sin, 
 and brought forth in iniquity ;" when an in- 
 spired apostle, tracing the assemblage of vices 
 which hjid brutalized mankind, pronounces 
 the alarming declaration, that "all have sin- 
 ned, and come short of the glory of God," — 
 thou dost hear a truth, proclaimed, as it were^ 
 by the sacred lips of God himself, which the 
 mew of the irorld, which the history of man, 
 whii*h the testimony of conscience irresistibly 
 confirm. 
 
 Sayest thou, man is not a fallen being] 
 Trace then his perfection in the world which 
 he inhabits. Is it decked with those glories 
 which render it a habitation worthy of the 
 illustrious being for whose enjoyment it was 
 created ] Is the strain of harmony and peace 
 poured forth from this august temple, where 
 man, pure and perfect, enjoys the smiles of 
 ins Maker's level Ah! scourged by war, 
 
Tuesday Morning. 55 
 
 pestilence, and fa 'nine, the earth sends forth 
 tli." sii^^hs and groans of a wretch^jd race ; 
 loaded with the ^uilt of hnman crimes, it 
 trembles under the frown of the Almighty ; 
 blasted (jfteii by the li-rhtning of heaven, it 
 waits tlie dread fiat, which will whelm it in 
 destruction, for the sin of nviri. 
 
 Sayest thou, man is a perfect being 1 Dis- 
 play then his virtues in the records of his 
 history. Alas ! these records are dyed in 
 blood. They exhibit the portrait of human 
 guilt in glaring colours. Do the fair forms 
 of justice, benevolence, and mercy rise to 
 view, 'md, extending their benignant reign 
 over the human race, pronounce that man is 
 blest and happy 1 Does one soul of celestial 
 love pervade the family of mankind, united 
 by the most endearing ties, by common wants, 
 by common feelings, by an exalted and eternal 
 destiny I Ah ! oppression lays her sceptre on 
 her sullen victims ; ambition erects the tro- 
 phies of triumph amidst the ruins into which 
 her merciless spirit has swept the proudest 
 boasts of human grandeur ; the spectre of 
 revenge, brandishing the steel streaminop with 
 gore, urges man to seal the purpose of ven- 
 geance in his brother's blood. 
 
 Alas ! the world, groaning under the curse 
 of God, and waiting the final execution of the 
 sentence of his wrath; the history of human 
 nature, presenting the dreadful picture of 
 crimes and misery, illumined only by some 
 scattered rays of virtue and happiness, pro^ 
 
56 Tuesday Morning* 
 
 claim the degeneracy, the corruption, the 
 guilt of man. 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God ! who, at the first, didst 
 create man in thine own image, and impress on 
 his soul the seal of immortality, if by transgression 
 he has forfeited his primeval glories, and sunk his 
 nature in sin and misery, on his own wilful folly^ 
 and not on thy decree, most holy God, be the 
 shame and guilt. I acknowledge that I perceive 
 the fatal proofs of my degeneracy in my clouded 
 understanding, in mv perverse will, in my corrupt 
 affections. I acknowledge that every view which 
 I take of the world around me, and of the conduct 
 of my fellow men, confirms the humiliating truth. 
 Almighty God! let me not deceive mvself in the 
 estimate which I form of my spiritual character 
 and state. Let me not flatter the vain-glorious 
 emotions of my heart, by false ideas of my purity 
 and perfection. Let me not seek to cast a veil 
 over the enormity of my sins, and thereby weaken 
 the emotions of penitence, the conviction of my 
 need of the atoning merits and purifving grace of 
 my Redeemer. Almio^hty God ! search through 
 all the folds of my heart; detect mv secret vices; 
 bring to light my errors and transgressions ; ex- 
 pose to mv awakened conscience all the aggrava- 
 tions of mv guilt; that thus humbled, convicted, 
 and alrrmed, I mav see no wa\ of escape from- 
 thv displeasure, but through the merits and me- 
 diation of Je^us Christ, my blessed Lord and 
 Redeemer. Amen^ 
 
Tuesday Evening. Si 
 
 TUESWAY EVENING. 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 A' an in his Xaiural State. 
 The subject of tliC morning meditation continued. 
 
 BoASTEST thou, that thou art exempt from 
 the stains of guilt which pollute the rest of 
 thy racel Bring thy powerful pleas to the 
 tribunal of conscience. Estimating highly the 
 opinion of the world, perhaps thou hast always 
 sought to regulate thy conduct by the laws of 
 honour. Calculating from motives of worldly 
 prudence, thou hast been, in all thy dealings, 
 honest and just. Desirous of the applause of 
 men, or, from the impulse of a blind sympathy, 
 ihou hast been generous and charitable. Are 
 these then thy pleas for exemption from the 
 general sentence of guilt 1 
 
 Carry thy claims to integrity and virtue 
 higher. Allow that thou hast been honour- 
 able, that thou hast been just, that thou hast 
 been generous and liberal, from the best mo- 
 tives. Allow that no gross crimes have mark- 
 ed thy conduct; that thy life, on the contrary, 
 merits the reputation of being exemplary and 
 upright. Allow that thou hast not obtained 
 the homage due to virtue, by imposing on the 
 world a correct and honourable exterior, while 
 thy principles have been base and sordid. 
 Allow that, when urged by interest and re- 
 strained by no fear of detection, thou hast not 
 
58 Tuesday Evening, 
 
 secretly practised the arts of injustice and dis- 
 honesty, which thou dost affect openly to ab- 
 hor. Allow that, while just and true in thy 
 intercourse with others, thou hast not been 
 regardless of the duties to thyself. Allow 
 that thou hast faithfully cherished the virtues 
 of temperance, soberness, and chastity; and 
 hast never indulged in the secret commission 
 of vices which dishonoured thy nature. 
 
 Carry still higher thy pretensions in the 
 scale of virtue. Allow that thou dost cherish 
 reverential ideas of the attributes, the provi- 
 dence, and the dispensations of God ; that 
 ihou dost not wilfully profane his name, nor 
 speak lightly of his sacred word. Allow that 
 thou dost entertain a high esteem for his 
 sacred word; defending it, as an excellent 
 code of religious and moral duties, against 
 the libertine attacks of scepticism. Allow 
 that, from some sense of thy obligations to 
 God and regard for the order of society, thou 
 dost reverence the institutions of religion, and 
 attend on the ministrations of the sanctuary. 
 Advance thy pretensions thus high : and few 
 of those who disclaim the imputation of their 
 depravity can advance these bold pretensions. 
 They are conceded to thee. These things 
 thou hast done. On these thou dost rest thy 
 claims to rectitude, to exemption from guilt. 
 On these thou dost found a proud title to the 
 favour of God. — O my soul ! before thou dost 
 thus presume to encounter the holy inspection 
 of thy Almighty Judge, and to stand at his 
 
Tuesday Evening, 39 
 
 tribunal on the claims of thy own merit, let 
 thy conscience answer for thee, the solema 
 inquiry, What hast thou left undone I 
 
 It is not superficial negative virtue which 
 will constitute the perfection of thy nature, 
 and satisfy the claims of thy Maker and Judge, 
 Thy exemption from guilt, thy claims to inno- 
 cence and uprightness, thy pretensions to the 
 favour of God, must be founded on a sincere, 
 supreme, universal obedience to his laws. 
 This obedience is demanded by thy obliga- 
 tions, which reason will acknowledge, to de- 
 vote to the God that made thee, to the greatest 
 and best of beings, tfiy supreme homage. By 
 a powerful dictate of thy nature, thou art urged 
 to admire and esteem excellence and good- 
 ness. Humble and feeble degrees of virtue 
 in man, attract and receive thy warm regard. 
 Oh! then, are not the most sacred fervours 
 of admiration and love justly due to thnt Al- 
 mighty Being who centres, in an infinite de- 
 gree, every excellence in his adorable person, 
 and from whom emanates every ray of good- 
 ness and bliss that illumines the universe! 
 On thee, O tny soul, this Almighty Bemg has 
 exercised his bounty — thee he has crowned 
 with the gifts of his love. To him, therefore, 
 thou art bound by the most powerful obliga- 
 tions. From him thou hast derived thy exist- 
 ence; every noble power that exalts thee in 
 tlie scale of being ; all those aspiring desires, 
 wliicii limit thy powers of enjoyment only 
 with the fruition of infinite perfection. On 
 
60 Tuesday Eveniiig. 
 
 him, whose all-pervading spirit sustains uni- 
 versal nature, thou art dependent for every 
 present enjoyment which swells thee with 
 delight; for every blessing which, in the an- 
 ticipated fruition, fills thee with transport. — 
 Behold the claims of God to thy homage and 
 obedience. I speak not now of the riches of 
 his mercy in Jesus Christ ; I speak not now 
 of that infinite compassion which urged the 
 Almighty Father to yield his only Son a 
 sacrifice for thy sins ; 1 unfold not now that 
 stupendous mystery of love, into which angels 
 desire to look, and which their most ardent 
 adorations but feebly celebrate. The infinite 
 mercy of thy God, who spared thee, the wilful 
 transgressor of his law, the contemner of his 
 authority and justice, who even gave, for thy 
 ransom from tliat misery and death into which 
 sin had plunged thee, his beloved Son — ^the 
 infinite grace of God in thy redemption, con- 
 stitutes a claim to love more ardent than thy 
 afiTections, even when inflamed with a co il 
 from the altar of heaven, will be able to ren- 
 der. But the glory of this redemption is 
 raised on the ruins of thy fallen nature; and 
 while thou dost deny, or only imperfectly 
 realize, thy guilt, fruitless would be the at- 
 tempt, by displaying the wonders of redeem- 
 ing mercy, to enforce thy obligations to thy 
 God. I present, therefore, only the acknoic- 
 /c(^/gcc/ claims of God to thy homage and obe- 
 dience ; and say, — if the graces and charms 
 of goodness are calculated to command es- 
 
Tuesday Evening, 61 
 
 teem and love ; if a dependent creature feels 
 deeply seated in his nature a sense of obliga- 
 tion to his Maker and Preserver; — on whom 
 should thy supreme love be exercised, to 
 whom should thy exalted obedience be ren- 
 dered, but to him who, possessing in himself 
 infinite perfection and happiness, has dis- 
 played on thee the glories of his goodness] 
 
 Say, then, my &oul, hast thou rendered to 
 God that love which is, on his part, the claim 
 of acknowledged right; on thine, the dictate 
 of generous gratitude and duty] Hust thou 
 loved him, as in justice and in gratitude thou 
 wast bound, sincerehj, supremely, umversally? 
 Hast thou considered it as thy highest honour, 
 and has it been thy supreme delight, to con- 
 template and adore the gh»rious attributes of 
 thy Creator; reverently and gratefully to trace 
 the wonders of his providence and the riches 
 of hits mercy] Impressed with his infinite 
 excellence, and with a lively conviction of thy 
 dependence upon his power and thy obliga- 
 tions to his bounty, hast thou uniforady ren- 
 dered him the tribute of homage and worship; 
 earnestly supplicating his protection, and 
 celebrating the displays of his goodness ] 
 To the Almighty Father of Spirits, to him 
 who must be worshipped in spirit and ia 
 truth, hast thou rendered not merely a cold, 
 superficial worship, but the lively homaofe of 
 thy he rt] Has sacred communion \vith thy 
 Almighty Father and Benefactor, in the ex- 
 ercises of praver and praise, been observed 
 F 
 
6^ Tuesday Evening, 
 
 not only as a public tribute, exacted by cus- 
 tom, extorted by a sense of decency, and at 
 ]ast rendered easy by habit ; but hfis it bef^n 
 the exercise and the solace of thy retired 
 hours ? Has the holy principle of love to God 
 transfused alacrity and delight into every act 
 of obedience to himi Has it been the su- 
 preme principle, which animated every duty, 
 which prompted sincere obedience to all his 
 commands 1 Ah, my soul, presumptuous self- 
 love has veiled from thee thy real character. 
 Thou hast been asserting thy rectitude on thy 
 exemption from gross crimes, and on thy 
 partial obedience to the divine commands, 
 while thou hast been de^iiXulQ o^ l\vdt spiritual 
 and tinirersal holiness which thy omniscient 
 Judge requires. Thou hast founded thy 
 claims to merit on thy external obedience to 
 the laws of God, while thou hast been desti- 
 tute of that supreme love to him which is thy 
 highest duty, perfection, and happiness, and 
 which must animate even the most exalted 
 acts of virtue to render them acceptable in 
 his sight. 
 
 Yes, my God, with deep humility I ac- 
 knowledge the presumption which disclaimed 
 my depravity and guilt. With deep humility, 
 I acknowledge that thy grace has excited 
 every emotion to goodness which animates 
 my disordered nature. Forgetful have I been 
 of thee, when the most powerful obligations, 
 and the most tender motives urged my ardent 
 love. Thou canst justly claim the sincere and 
 
Tuesday Evenhg, 63 
 
 universal service of my life: imperfect and 
 partial has been my obedience. O God, 
 when my omissions of duty thus involve me 
 in the deepest guilt, what loud calls for the 
 inflictions of thy justice do my actual trans- 
 gressions present. My presumptuous sins 
 rise before my dismayed conscience. O, who 
 can disclose my secret faults ! Alas, my in- 
 iquities are too many to be numbered. Yes, 
 my God, from the impure fountain of my 
 heart have flowed the noxious streams which 
 have debased my nature, and swept away the 
 vestiges of primeval glory. " Thou art found 
 wanting," — the sentence, marked by the fin- 
 ger of thy holiness on the most brilliant 
 virtues of man, confounds the pretensions of 
 human pride. The purest seraph that treads 
 thy courts, most holy God, renouncing all 
 claim to merit, casts his crown at thy throne. 
 What emotions, then, should penetrate a 
 w^orm of the dust, a polluted sinner, when 
 he approaches his Maker and Judge ! Ah, 
 though arrayed in the righteousness of the 
 most exalted saint, when the beams of thy 
 glory dart upon me, it w^ill become me, imi- 
 tating the abasement of the inspired prophet, 
 to lay my hand upon my mouth, and prostrate 
 in the dust to deplore my sins — '^ Wo is me, 
 for I am unclean." 
 
 Contemplate, then, O my soul, w^ith pro- 
 found humility, thy awful guilt. Consider 
 thyself as excluded, by transgression, from 
 that throne of glory, which, in thy state of 
 
64 Tuesday Evening, 
 
 innocence, thou wast permitted to approach. 
 Consider thyself, wiiile unrenewed by grace, 
 as obnoxious to the displeasure of that God, 
 "who, from the essential holiness of his nature, 
 must ever regard sin with abhorrence. Re- 
 volt not against the humiliating conviction of 
 thy depravity ; presume not to cast thy sins 
 on the Being who made thee. Pure and up- 
 right thou didst come forth from his hallowed 
 hands. But though blessed with his animat- 
 ing smiles, though admitted to the vision of 
 his glory, though holding blissful communion 
 with thy adorable Maker, wilfully yielding to 
 temptation, thou didst transgress his com- 
 mands. His love infinitely surpassed thy de- 
 serts. Transgression had no sooner sunk 
 thee into the abyss of guilt, than his mercy 
 provided the means of thy restoration. Satan 
 had no sooner triumphed in thy fall, and cast 
 on thee his chains, than the price of thy ran- 
 som was laid on one that was mighty — than 
 a glorious Redeemer was provided to destroy 
 the power of the adversary. Sin had no 
 sooner defaced thy primitive glory, than the 
 fountain of grace was opened to renew and 
 console thee. Inheriting from the first de- 
 generate Adam, a fallen and polluted nature, 
 thou mayest derive from thy glorious Repre- 
 sentative, the divine Saviour of mankind, par- 
 don, holiness, everlasting life. The sacrifice 
 of his death, as the sacrifice of an all-perfect 
 victim, is infinite in value ; and, extending its 
 efficacy to all mankind, restores them to the 
 
Tuesday JEvenirig, 65 
 
 means and hopes of salvation. His quicken- 
 ing grace diffuses through the hearts of the 
 degenerate offspring of Adam, the cheering 
 light which conducts to the reconciled counte- 
 nance of their God, — the invigorating strength 
 which enables them to render that imperfect, 
 bui sincere obedience which his mercy will 
 accept. 
 
 Thy guilt, therefore, O my soul, is increased 
 by thy rejection of proffered grace. Thy con- 
 demnaiion is now aggravated by the impious 
 contempt of the mercies of salvation, pur- 
 chased for thee by a Saviour's merits, and 
 pressed upon thee by the urgent entreaties 
 of a Saviour's love. In his state of perfection, 
 thy first parent enjoyed the exalted bliss of 
 communion with God. But glorious as was 
 his state, animating as were his motives to 
 obedience, the agonies of a divine Saviour 
 consumed as a victim to incensed justice did 
 not display to him the awful sanctions of the 
 law of God. The glories of the Woi'd made 
 flesh, the blessings of salvation which flowed 
 from the cross, did not swell his soul with 
 the emotions of adoration, did not display to 
 his astonished contemplation the surpassing 
 condescension and love of the everlasting 
 Jehovah. Ah, thy transgressions have cast 
 contempt on the glories of the Son of God 
 manifested in the flesh, to redeem thee ; thy 
 transgressions have repaid w'nh mockery and 
 insult the agonizing sufferings by which he 
 atoned for ihy guilt. Ah, my soul, thy sms, 
 
 F 2 
 
66 Tuesday Evening, 
 
 committed against brighter displays of glory, 
 contemning more tremendous manifestations 
 of divine justice, have involved thee in deeper 
 guilt than that which crushed, under the curse 
 of heaven, the wretched forefather of our race. 
 
 Here then, my soul, place the basis of thy 
 repentance. Let the contemplation of thy 
 fallen state excite penitential sorrow. Let 
 the view of the ruins in which sin has involved 
 thy once glorious nature, excite the lively 
 conviction of thy need of the renovating grace 
 of a Redeemer. Arrayed in the garments of 
 mercy, he came, the divine Messenger of the 
 Father, " to proclaim liberty to the captives, 
 to bind up the broken-hearted, to comfort 
 those who mourn." And until thou art sen- 
 sible that the chains of sin enslave thee ; until 
 the view of the guilt of thy transgressions ex- 
 cites the anguish of thy conscience; until the 
 just sentence of condemnation passed against 
 thee penetrates thy spirit, — thou wilt not sup- 
 plicate the saving power of thy Redeemer ; 
 thou wilt not implore the balm of divine 
 mercy ; thou wilt not seek to wash away the 
 stains of thy guilt in the fountain of thy Sa- 
 viour's grace. 
 
 Let then the lively sense of thy unworthi- 
 |iess be ever cherished, O my soul, — to hum- 
 ble thee in the sight of God, to awaken the 
 fervours of thy repentance, to excite thee to 
 seek peace and salvation by a lively faith in 
 thy Redeemer's merits. Especially, when 
 thQU art called to celebrate his love, and to 
 
Tuesday Evening. 67 
 
 invoke his mercy, in the holy sacrament of 
 his supper, be it thy care to form the most 
 affecting views of thy lost estate. Who will 
 cherish with the most fervent gratitude the 
 precious emblems of the Saviour's love] 
 Who will invoke wdth the most sincere soli- 
 citude, that grace which this ordinance was 
 designed to dispense] And who will experi- 
 ence, in their most exquisite fervours, those 
 holy joys, which sometimes lift the soul to 
 the city of the living God I — The humble 
 Christian, who, cherishing a deep sense of 
 his weakness, his unworthiness, his need of 
 mercy and grace, places his trust in that all- 
 sufficient Saviour, who gave himself to be th© 
 ^(A of ihe icorld. 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 O God, who art infinitely pure and perfect, 
 and in whose sight dvvelleth nothing that is unholy 
 or unclean ; with deep humility I confess the 
 numerous sins which have defiled my conscience, 
 and which call for the condemning sentence of 
 thy justice. I acknowledge, O Lord, that thy laws 
 are infinitely holy, just, and good; calculated to 
 advance the perfection of my nature, my present 
 peace, and everlasting welfare. But, though thou 
 hast mercifully endued me with that heavenly 
 grace, by which I was enabled to work out my 
 salvation, and through the merits of my blessed 
 Redeemer, to obtain thy favour, with deep hu- 
 mility I confess, tliat I have disregarded the in- 
 
68 Tuesday Evening, 
 
 vitations of thy mercy, contemned the succours of 
 thy grace, and defied, by wilful transgression, the 
 terrors of thy justice, Enhghtened by thy truth 
 to discern the exctllence of thy righteous laws, 
 and endued with strength to resist the temptations 
 which would seduce me from thy service, '' I have 
 yet done the things that I ought not to have done, 
 and I have left undone the things that I ought to 
 have done ; and there is no health in me." Alas, 
 
 Lord, by the numerous deficiencies of duty 
 which have marked my life, by my repeated viola- 
 tions of thy laws, 1 have incurred thy displeasure ; 
 
 1 stand condemned at thy tribunal ; my conscience 
 confirms the justice of that sentence which would 
 banish me from thy presence. Blessed be thy 
 naUiC, thou hast spared me, O God of my salva- 
 tion. In the exercise of infinite love, thou hast 
 laid on Jesus, thy eternal Son, the burden of my 
 sins. O thou precious Lamb of God, who wast 
 wounded for my transgressions, and bruised for 
 mv iniquities; whose agonizing sufferings, and all- 
 sufiicient merits are displayed to the eye of faith, 
 in the lively memorials of the altar, hear the sup- 
 plications which my soul, bowed down by its guilt 
 and unuorthiness, directs to thee, for pardon and 
 salvation. Grant, O my Saviour, that while the 
 emblems of thy sufferings and death forcibly im- 
 press on my heart the sense of my guilt, they may 
 also be the seals and pledges of the merc}', the 
 grace, and favour of my offended God. Holy 
 Spirit, the source of quickening grace, whose sa- 
 cred office it is to convince of sin^ excite in my 
 soul the conviction of my weakness and unworthi- 
 ness. Blessed Guide and Con forter, \^i^d my 
 contrite spirit to repose its full trust in the merits 
 
fFtdnesdatj Jlfornmg, 69 
 
 of my Saviour. Almighty Father, whose just in- 
 dignation I have incurred, cast me not off" for ever; 
 —listen to the interceding calls of thy mercy, to 
 the powerful pleadings of my Saviour's blood, and 
 turn from my guilty soul the severity of thy wrath. 
 Recovered by thy mercy from the depths of guilt 
 and misery, and restored by thy grace to health, 
 purity, and peace, be all the glory of my redemp- 
 tion ascribed unto thee, Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, for ever and ever. ^4 men. 
 
 WEDNESDAY MORMXG* 
 
 MEDITATIOiN. 
 
 Repentance. 
 
 O MY SOUL, if the conviction of thy fallen 
 state, thus established by the declaration of 
 God himself, by the view of the world around 
 thee, by the history of human nature, by the 
 taithful testimony of thine own conscience, — 
 if this conviction of thy fallen state has been 
 sincere, thou wilt perceive the necessity of 
 deep repentance. 
 
 How shalt thou express thy sensibility to 
 thy demerit, thy sorrow for the sins w'hich 
 have roused against thee the wrath of heaven, 
 but by humble and earnest confession \ How 
 shalt thou awaken the mercy of that God 
 whom thy sins have provoked, but by that 
 unfeigned sorrow which the true penitent 
 cherished ! How wilt thou subdue the pas- 
 sions which destroy tliy purity and peace, and 
 
70 JFednesday Morning. 
 
 continually plunge thee in transgression and 
 guilt, but by the mortificalion and self-denial 
 which are the principal constituents of ge- 
 nuine repentance I Thy Saviour hath de- 
 clared that he came to " seek and to save that 
 which was lost." Thy Almighty Judge hath 
 pronounced that he dispenses mercy only to 
 those " who turn from their wickedness, and 
 do that which is lawful and right." Seek to 
 excite then, O my soul, by deep humiliation, 
 the compassion of thy Saviour — by the vows 
 of obedience which characterize the true pen- 
 itent, prove that thou art steadfastly resolved 
 to serve thy God, and thus lay thy humble 
 claim to his mercy. 
 
 Thou art preparing to participate in that 
 holy supper, where thou wilt be admitted to 
 intimate communion with thy heavenly Father, 
 where thou wilt engage, in the closest inter- 
 course of love and duty, with thy blessed 
 Redeemer. O consider, how lively should 
 be thy contrition, how profound thy abase- 
 ment, how universal thy renunciation of sin, 
 how firm thy resolutions of obedience, how 
 sincere thy repentance — when, by the most 
 affecting symbols, thou dost devote thyself to 
 thy Redeemer, and implore the mercy and 
 grace of the God of thy salvation. 
 
 Art thou then desirous, O my soul, to be 
 rescued from that guilt and condemnation 
 into which sin has cast theel Art thou de- 
 sirous to be restored to the enjoyment of the 
 reconciled countenance of thy God \ Art thou 
 
Wtdnesday Mornirtg, 71 
 
 desirous to enioy the pure delight that enli- 
 vens liie conscience which thu bloorl of the 
 Saviour hath cleansed from guilt! Art thou 
 desirous to experience the powerful efficacy 
 of thai body and blood, by which Jesus re- 
 deenl^• his penitent people ! Art thou desirous 
 to enjoy the refreshing grace of thy Alaiighty 
 Saviour ! Let thy most vigorous exeriions be 
 roused ; let thy most fervent prayers be di- 
 rected to heaven, for the attainment of that 
 evangelical rejjentmice yjhiQh is the only pass- 
 port to purity and peace, to the mercy of thy 
 Redeemer, to the favour of thy God. 
 
 Examine, then, faithfully, my soul, the 
 characteristics of thy repentance. Recall to 
 view the properties of this evangelical grace. 
 Recollect, there are counterfeits of repent- 
 ance, by which many flatter and fatally de- 
 ceive their ow^n hearts. Ah, when God, in- 
 flexible and holy, sits in judgment on the soul, 
 he will institute a scrutiny which will con- 
 found the hopes of the hypocrite Holy Spirit, 
 repentance is thy gift — quicken its holy ex- 
 ercises in my soul. 
 
 That thou mayest, in the awful day of re- 
 tribution, escape the condemning judgment 
 of God, investigate now, my soul, faithfully 
 and seriously, the characteristics of thy re- 
 pentance. 
 
 It is not sufficient that thy repentance 
 should be founded solely in an awful appre- 
 hension of ditmeicrath. In a certain degree, 
 and within certain bounds, an apprehension 
 
72 JFednesday Morning'. 
 
 of the infliction of divine justice due to sin, 
 is not only necessary to call forth the convic- 
 tion, the sorrow, and the zeal of the penitent ; 
 but it is also the povi^erful principle which 
 corrects the fervours of love, and which may 
 at times animate the obedience of the con- 
 firmed Christian, For that exalted fear of 
 God, which lies at the foundation both of the 
 contrition of the penitent and the homage 
 and duty of the Christian, in some degree 
 arises from a lively and awful impression of 
 the inflexible justice of God, of the wrath 
 which will overwhelm the contemners of his 
 laws. What emotions of reverence should 
 confound a worm of the dust, a polluted sin- 
 ner, when he contemplates that holiness and 
 justice, which encircle the throne at which 
 he is to reeeive his eternal doom ! Into the 
 emotions of penitence, therefore, an appre- 
 hension of divine wrath, arising from the 
 view of the justice, holiness, and power of 
 God, and of our guilt and demerit, may justi- 
 fiably enter. But when it is the sole, or even 
 the dominant principle, it destroys the puri- 
 fying and consoling efficacy of repentance. 
 For a repentance which is founded only on 
 an apprehension of divine wrath, is selfish 
 and disingenuous in respect to its 7notives; 
 it will also be feeble and superficial in its 
 sacrifices and in its services. When uninflu- 
 enced by other more ingenuous and noble 
 motives, a repentance characterized by the 
 fear of divine wrath regards only the conse- 
 
JFediicsdatj Morning. 73 
 
 quences of sin as incurring punishment, and 
 keeps out of view its more aggravated char- 
 acteristics, its ingratitude, its baseness, its 
 criminality. This kind of repentance, there- 
 fore, may very well comport with an insensi- 
 bility to the deformity of sin, and to its guilt 
 as the violation of the law of God, the just 
 and holy Judge of the world. A penitent, 
 influenced only by an awful apprehension of 
 divine wrath, will be earnestly anxious to 
 avert the penalties of sin, but will not be so- 
 licitous to avoid the commissio7i o^ it. Cher- 
 ishing his sinful passions, he will merely aim 
 at those partial sacrifices, at that superficial 
 obedience, by which he hopes to elude the 
 sentence which God will pronounce on the 
 presumptuous sinner. Unaffected by a sense 
 of the evil of sin, and devoted to licentious 
 enjoyments, he would riot in sensual indul- 
 gence, did not the apprehension of divine in- 
 dignation arrest his guilty passions. His soul 
 still retaining its aversion to holiness and 
 virtue, — his is the repentance of unsubdued 
 guilt, of terrified remorse : like the repent- 
 ance of condemned spirits, who, trembling 
 under the chains of hell, and consumed by its 
 fires, seek a suspension of their torment, only 
 to hurl their vengeance against the throne of 
 heaven! Oh! what an insult is this base 
 repentance to God, whom its slavish fears 
 regard as a merciless tyrant ; and who, it im- 
 piously supposes, will be satisfied with that 
 hypocritical expression of sorrow which is 
 G 
 
74 Wednesday Morning* 
 
 extorted by the terrors of his justice ! How 
 unworthy is this degenerate repentance of the 
 devout communicant, who, in the sufferings 
 of his Saviour, portrayed in the emblems of 
 the altar, beholds an excitement to the most 
 lively and ingenuous sorrow ! 
 
 It is not even enough that repentance 
 should be founded on a view of the evil of 
 sin as destructive to the purity and peace of 
 the soul. 
 
 The purity and peace of the soul are in- 
 separably connected, by the constitution of 
 human nature, and by the appointment of 
 God, with obedience to his laws. Obedience 
 to the decrees of the infinite source of per- 
 fection and power constitutes the harmony 
 of the universe. Obedience to the will of the 
 eternal fountain of intelligence and goodness 
 constitutes the bliss of those countless my- 
 riads of spirits who encircle the throne of Je- 
 hovah, adoring his transcendent glory. Only 
 in a conformity to the image, and in a sincere 
 obedience to the will of his eternal Lawgiver 
 and Judge, will man find pure and perfect 
 bliss. All the powers of his nature tend to 
 the eternal fountain of perfection as the centre 
 of their enjoyment. In proportion as they 
 are exercised upon God, as they are regu- 
 lated by his will, and as they are enlivened 
 by the smiles of his favour, will be the hap- 
 piness of man in the present life, and his 
 capacity for the fruition of the blissful pre- 
 sence of his God in the life to come. When, 
 
FTednesday Morning, 75 
 
 therefore, thou dost consider, O, my soul, that 
 by disobedience to the laws of God, thou hast 
 forfeited thy claim to his favour ; and that, ia 
 departing from the infinite source of perfec- 
 tion and goodness, thou hast forsaken the 
 *^ fountain of living waters," and hast sought 
 to gratify thy desires at the unsatisfying 
 " cisterns" of worldly pleasure — when thou 
 dost contemplate the disorder in which sin 
 has cast thy once perfect powers — when, con- 
 victed and alarmed, thou dost consider the 
 infamy, the guilt, the misery which attend the 
 indulgence of unholy passions — thou dost 
 behold the most powerful motives to deep 
 humiliation, to lively sorrow. 3ut, sven here, 
 the glow of contrition is tarnished by the sel- 
 fish principle by which it is excited. Trans- 
 greesion has destroyed thy peace, has cut 
 thee off from the divine fountain of felicity, 
 has debased thy powers, has blasted thy en- 
 joyments. Dishonour, misery, and destruc- 
 tion, are the fruits of thy sinful course. Here 
 there is not a motive to repentance which 
 does not terminate in self, which does not 
 draw all its force from a regard to thy own 
 welfare. Ah, if indeed the consequences of 
 sin involved only thy own purity and peace, 
 motives drawn from these considerations 
 would constitute the sole springs of thy re- 
 pentance. But thy transgressions have defied 
 the authority, and have contemned the mercy 
 of thy God and Saviour. There are, there- 
 fore, motives to contrition still more noble— 
 
'76 Wednesday Morning. 
 
 motives more worthy of those ingenuous 
 emotions with which the penitent should 
 commemorate, in the holy supper, the infinite 
 love of his Redeemer. 
 
 Thy penitential sorrow, therefore, should 
 be founded on a deep sense of the evil of 
 sin, as a presumptuous contempt of the right- 
 eous authority of God, 
 
 Consider that, as the infinite source of per- 
 fection, power, and goodness, he justly claims 
 the homage of the universe. Consider that 
 his omnipotent hand sustains and governs all 
 things; himself the sovereign Lord of nature. 
 Consider that the object of that dominion 
 which he exercises over the world, is the ad- 
 vancement of the purity and happiness of all 
 the orders of intelligent creatures. Consider 
 that, as thy eternal Maker, thy omnipotent 
 Lawgiver, thy just and holy Judge, he claims 
 thy supreme, thy uniform obedience. Ah, 
 by transgressuion thou hast impiously refused 
 to render that homage which universal nature 
 offers to its omnipotent Maker and Lord — 
 By transgression thou hast spurned thy de- 
 pendence on that almighty arm which pre- 
 serves thee in being, and which, in a moment, 
 could crush thee into the dust, whence it 
 raised thee— By transgression thou hast re- 
 volted against the righteous dominion of the 
 Sovereign of the universe, and sought to de- 
 feat the beneficent purposes of his sway— By 
 transgression thou hast defied the infinite 
 power of thy Maker, thou hast contemned 
 
fFednesday Morning, 77 
 
 the righteous mandates of thy supreme Law- 
 giver, thou hast raised the arm of defiance 
 against the omnipotent Judge of heaven and 
 earth. Oh, by what profound contrition must 
 thou seek to avert the wrath which impends 
 over thy rebellion! 
 
 Until we are deeply impressed with the 
 supreme claims of God to our homage and 
 obedience; until we discern and acknowledge 
 his power, his justice, and his holiness ; the 
 awful presumption of sin, as a contempt of 
 his authority, will not be displayed in full 
 force. The throne on which God exercises 
 the dominion of the universe, is founded on 
 his inviolable holiness and justice. To resist 
 his authority, to violate his laws, is therefore 
 presumptuously to contemn these exalted at- 
 tributes, and to rebel against that righteous 
 government, the subversion of which would 
 overwhelm the purity and glory of the uni- 
 verse. The true penitent, therefore, will hum- 
 bly acknowledge, that his guilt is aggravated 
 by the contempt of the authority of God with 
 which it is marked. Casting his eyes on the 
 sacrifice of the altar, he will behold, in the 
 agonies of the almighty victim, there immo- 
 lated under aflfecting symbols, the infinite 
 price which God exacted, as the vindication 
 of his violated authority, and the enormity of 
 that guilt which rendered an infinite sacrifice 
 necessary. At the altar, therefore, the devout 
 communicant will, in profound abasement, 
 adore the sovereignty of God, and pour forth 
 
 G2 
 
78 IFednesday Mornings 
 
 his penitential soitovv for his presumptuous 
 violations of the laws of the righteous Maker 
 and Judge of the world. 
 
 The view of sin, which is calculated to 
 awaken in the penitent the most lively con- 
 viction of its baseness and enormity, and to 
 excite a generous sorrow, has not yet been 
 displayed. To all the other powerful aggra- 
 vations of sin will be added the characteristic 
 of base insensibility and ingratitude^ when 
 the penitent regards it as a deliberate and 
 tcilfid contempt of the infinite mercy and love 
 of God, That by transgression we have in- 
 curred divine wrath ; that by transgression we 
 have destroyed our purity and peace ; that by 
 transgression we have defied the righteous 
 and beneficent authority of God — are con- 
 siderations powerfully calculated to display 
 the evil of sin, and to excite profound sorrow 
 for it. But the afiecting consideration, that 
 by transgression we have discovered, base 
 insensibility to the goodness of God, and un^ 
 gratefully contemned his infinite love^ displays, 
 in its full enormity, our guilt, and constitutes 
 the most ingenuous source of true repentance. 
 Yes, my soul, thou hast withheld the tribute 
 of just and generous homage from that glori- 
 ous Being who centres in himself all loveli- 
 ness and perfection. Thou hast withheld the 
 tribute of just and generous gratitude from 
 thy Almighty Father, Preserver, and Bene- 
 factor, — who has guided and defended thee 
 whe;i helpless and exposed, — who has cherr 
 
IFednesday Moniing, 79- 
 
 ished thee with an affection which even thy 
 neirlect and insensibility could not overcome, 
 — who has crowned thee with mercy and 
 loving-kindness, — who has provided for thee 
 an eternal and glorious destiny beyond the 
 grave. Ah, thou hast not only been deficient 
 in the exalted acts of gratitude and duty. 
 By repeated and wilful transgressions of his 
 commands, thou hast discovered indifference 
 to his love, and contempt of his mercy. Thou 
 hast even slighted the most exalted display 
 of his goodness, the gift of his only Son to 
 redeem thee. Oh, my soul, thou hast sin- 
 ned, not against a hard and cruel master, 
 whose service was burdensome and without 
 reward; not against a merciless sovereiirn, 
 who ruled thee with the sceptre of wrath ; 
 but against thy most compassionate Fnther, 
 thy most generous Benefactor, thv most ten- 
 der Friend ; against that merciful Redeemer, 
 who shrunk not from the iunominv of the 
 cross to purchase thy redemption. On! what 
 emotions of ingenuous sorrow will agitate 
 the bosom of the sincere penitent, when he 
 beholds, in the transcendent love of his Re- 
 deem.er and God, the representation of his 
 ingratitude and guilt ! Penetrated with dis~ 
 interested sorrow, he will humble his soul in 
 the deepest contrition ; and by the fervours 
 of his repentance, seek to testify that he is, 
 at last, awakened to the affecting force o< 
 those infinite mercies, which he so long con- 
 temned. 
 
80 Wednesday Morning, 
 
 The sacrifice of the altar was designed to 
 convey a lively representation of the suffer- 
 ings and death of Christ. The altar, there- 
 fore, is the throne where the sincere penitent 
 will pour forth the confession of his sins. 
 When, prostrate before its hallowed symbols, 
 he beholds the body of his Saviour broken 
 and bruised, and the precious blood of the 
 Lamb of God shed forth as an atoning sacri- 
 fice, the enormity and guilt of his sins, which 
 could so long resist and contemn the infinite 
 love of his Redeemer, will dissolve his soul 
 in ingenuous and fervent penitence. 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 Oeternal and Almighty God ! whose autho- 
 rity I have violated, whose power I have defied, 
 whose justice I have contemned, whose mercy I 
 have resisted, by my repeated and aggravated trans- 
 gressions — sensible of my baseness, my presump- 
 tion, my ingratitude and guilt, I now humbly cast 
 myself at the throne of thy mercy, and implore 
 thy forgiveness. O thou Father of mercies, whose 
 compassions fail not, whose love and pity cannot 
 be subdued by the ingratitude and sins of man, 
 vouchsafe to pardon and bless the unworthy sinner 
 who sees no refuge from the just sentence of con- 
 demnation, but in the gracious overtures of salva- 
 tion which thou hast proclaimed through Jesus 
 Christ, the Son of thy love. Praises evermore be 
 ascribed unto thee, that thou hast declared thou 
 art willing to accept, through Jesus thy Son, the 
 
JFednesday Morning. ^l 
 
 imperfect but sincere repentance of the awakened 
 sinner. do thou inspire in my heart that hum+- 
 ble, lively, and ingenuous contrition which is alone 
 thy gift. Spirit of the Father ! fountain of quick- 
 ening grace ! awaken in me a deep sense of the 
 evil and guilt of my sins, that with humble and 
 earnest sorrow I may deplore and confess them. 
 Set before my conscience the terrors of that wrath 
 to which sin renders me obnoxious, the degrading 
 impurity and misery in which it has plunged me. 
 But, oh ! let the liveliest emotions of sorrow arise 
 from the view of my guilt and ingratitude, in hav- 
 ing contemned the righteous authority, the infinite 
 mercies of my God and Saviour. Almighty God, 
 let me not seek to extenuate the guilt cf my trans- 
 gressions, or to offer to thee an imperfect repent- 
 ance. But mercifully grant, that, humbly deplor- 
 ing my guilt, and confessing my unworthiness, I 
 may approach to thy holy altar, and there be re- 
 stored to thy reconciled countenance, through the 
 prevailing merits and efficacy of the body and 
 blood of him who died for my sins, Jesus Chris?, 
 my Lord and Redeemer. Amen. 
 
 WEDNESDAY EVEXIXG. 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 Resolutions of obedience. Tl)e invigoratine; and sanctlfyipg agencv of the 
 Holy Spirit. 
 
 The important object of repentance, to 
 which indeed all its genuine exercises tend, 
 is the restoration of the soul to holiness. 
 We can {lave no claim to the favpur of a ju^ 
 
62 Wednesday Evening, 
 
 and holy God ; we are not indeed capable of 
 enjoying the pure and perfect bliss of his pre- 
 sence, until the dominion of sin is subverted 
 in our hearts ; until we are reinstated in the 
 graces of the divine image. Every expression 
 of repentance is vain and presumptuous, un- 
 less it proceeds from a heart supremely de- 
 sirous to be released from the dominion of 
 sinful passions — and to obtain that purity 
 which only conducts to the favour of God, to 
 satisfying peace, to unfailing joy in his pre- 
 sence. " Without holiness no man shall see 
 the Lord." 
 
 To release us from the bondage of sin was 
 the object which brought down from the man- 
 sions of bliss the eternal Son zt the Highest. 
 It was the object for which he promulgated 
 his divine instructions, and for whioh he dis- 
 played the example of a spotless life. It was 
 the object which animated all his labours; 
 which conducted him, cheerful and triumph- 
 ant, through his bitter sufferings. It was the 
 object for which he finally shed, on the cross, 
 that precious blood which was to be the seal 
 and the means of our deliverance from sin ; 
 for which he poured forth the Holy Spirit 
 to sanctify our degenerate nature. While, 
 therefore, unholy passions enthral us; while 
 we are destitute of those virtues by which we 
 must be qualified for everlasting happiness — 
 in vain for us will the Son of God have pub- 
 lished his divine instructions — in vain for us 
 will he have displayed his glorious example — 
 
Wednesday Evening. 83 
 
 in vain for us will he have triumphantly sus- 
 taiued the sufferings and death or' the cross- 
 in vain for us will he have purchased the 
 renoVf«ting gifts of the Holy {Spirit. Ah, 
 these powerfui aids and motives to holy obe- 
 dience, perverted and contemned, will strip 
 us of all excuse for our impenitence; will 
 silence the pleas by which we may seek to 
 extenuate our continuance in sin ; and will 
 arm with heavier vengeance the sentence of 
 almighty justice. 
 
 Contemplate, O, my soul, the import of the 
 holy rite which thou art to celebrate. Con- 
 template the lively exhibition which the sa- 
 crifice of the altar affords, both of the inflexible 
 jnstice of (jod and his infinite mercy. Con- 
 template, under the affecting symbols there 
 exhibited, the love of the Saviour, who ex- 
 posed himself to the fires of divine justice to 
 avert from thee their fury. And if, after this 
 awful and affecting exhibition, no desires are 
 awakened to be delivered from the dominion 
 of those sins which called forth the wrath of 
 heaven on thy innocent Redeemer — if, after 
 this penetrating view, no desires are excited 
 to testify, by thy vows of love and duty, thy 
 gratitude to thy God and Saviour; to obtain, 
 by a life of holy obedience, the enjoyment of 
 their favour, — thou art utterly unworthy to 
 partake of an ordinance, to the exalted ten- 
 dency of which thou art entirely insensible — 
 thou art utterly unworthy to receive those 
 inestimable communications of mercy and 
 
84 Wednesday Evening, 
 
 grace, which, irt this sacrament, aire granted 
 to the prayers and vows of the humble and 
 faithful. Oh ! to receive the body and blood 
 of the Saviour into a heart, which, cherishing 
 unholy passions, contemns his authority and 
 jnercy, and erects the throne of rebellion 
 against him, — would display a presumption 
 deserving the most severe punishment which 
 infinite justice can inflict. 
 
 By every consideration which awakened 
 thy lively sorrow for sin, thou art excited, O, 
 my soul, to the most earnest desires to be 
 rescued from its dominion — thou art urged to 
 the most zealous vows of duty and obecilence. 
 How canst thou expect to escape the loratk 
 of God, while, by cherishing thy sins, and 
 persevering in rebellion against him, thou 
 dost expose thyself tc^ hrs just displeasure I 
 How canst thou expect to ei^joy that peace 
 which diffuses its enlivening influence only 
 through the conscience that is redeemed from 
 guilt, when thou dost cherish those unholy 
 passions which produce anxiety and remorse I 
 How canst thou expect to avoid the guilt of 
 rebellion against the righteous authority of 
 the Sovereign of the universe, when the sen- 
 sual passions which rule in thee bear testi- 
 mony, that thy expressions and vows of peni- 
 tence are insin(iere, that thou dost oppose the 
 just claims of God to thy obedience '! How 
 canst thou avert the opprobrium of the basest 
 insensibdity Sindirtgratitnde, while the display 
 of the mercies of God, and of the riches of 
 
Wednesday Evening, 85 
 
 his love towards thee in Jesus Christ, cannot 
 induce thee to relinquish the sins which are 
 daily abusing his mercy, which are daily re- 
 newing the pangs that rent the bosom of thy 
 Saviour ] Ah, my soul, while sin reigns in 
 thy affections ; while wilful violations of the 
 laws of God defile thy conscience ; though 
 thy pretended sorrow should burst forth in 
 reiterated confessions and supplications, thou 
 art still obnoxious to divine wrath — still the 
 slave of degrading pleasures — still exposed 
 to the pangs of apprehension and remorse : — 
 thou art still the presumptuous rebel against 
 the authority of God, the guilty contemner of 
 his love. 
 
 There is no way in which thou canst prove 
 that thy repentance is genuine, in which thou 
 canst obtain a title to the love and favour of 
 God, or in which thou canst prepare for being 
 a worthy guest at the table of the Lord, but 
 by earnest and uniform desire to be delivered 
 from the dominion of sin, by sincere vows of 
 obedience to thy God and Saviour. 
 
 Let, then, thy desires to be delivered from 
 the dominion of sin, and thy vows of duty 
 and obedience, be sincere and lively. 
 
 If in proportion to the disgrace and misery 
 of the evils that oppress us, should be the 
 sincerity and warmth of our desires to be re- 
 leased from them ; deliverance from the de- 
 grading and miserable bondage of sin should 
 awaken the most sincere and lively desires of 
 our hearts. If in proportion to the magnitude 
 
 H 
 
86 Wednesday Evening. 
 
 of the favours which we have received from 
 a benefactor, and the value of the blessings 
 which he has still in store for us, should be 
 the sincerity and ardour of our devotion to 
 him ; the vows of obedience to our heavenly 
 Father and Redeemer, who is the source of 
 all our blessings, and of all our hopes, should 
 awaken the highest fervour of our affections. 
 From a dominion that destroys our purity 
 and peace, we seek to be delivered. To a 
 merciful and gracious God, who is worthy of 
 our highest homage, and who claims our most 
 ardent gratitude, w^e are to vow allegiance. 
 The most splendid object of worldly desire 
 sinks in the comparison with the concerns of 
 our eternal destiny. Desires and resolutions, 
 if possible, infinitely more ardent than those 
 which impetuously urge us in the pursuit of 
 worldly enjoyments, should be devoted to the 
 attainment of thst spiritual redemption, of 
 that fidelity and zeal in the service of God, 
 which are the only pledges of our peace. 
 Thy desires and resolutions, O, my soul, are 
 to be oftered up to a God who searches the 
 heart ; who, jealous of his honour, and the 
 claims of his autliority, will resent and punish 
 the hypocritical and superficial professions of 
 love and obedience. Thinkest thou he will 
 behold thee panting with desire in the pursuit 
 of worldly pleasure, vowing ardent devotion 
 to the idols of honour and wealth ; and when 
 to him thy most sincere love, thy most zeal- 
 ous obedience are duo, be himself content 
 
Wednesday Evening. 87 
 
 with the feeble homage of affections which 
 are wasting their fervours on debasing and 
 transitoiy gratifications] View the prodigies 
 of love in the siitferings and death comtne- 
 morated on the altar. Contemplate the bless- 
 ings of that spiritual banquet which a merciful 
 Redeemer hath provided. Redemption from 
 sin and its pangs ; restoration to the favour 
 of God, and the never-failing consolations of 
 his love; purity of heart, and the inexpressible 
 peace which is always its attendant; commu- 
 nion with God, and the divine pleasures which 
 he pours upon the soul ; a lively foretaste of 
 the joys of heaven, — these are the exalted 
 blessings which, in the spiritual banquet of 
 his body and blood, the love of thy Saviour 
 has prepared for thee. Impenetrable and 
 hardened art thou, if blessings thus exalted 
 do not excite thy most ardent desires ; lost to 
 every amiable feeling, and deserving of the 
 wTath of heaven, if, at the very moment when 
 thy Saviour displays the depths of his suffer- 
 ings, and offers thee the eternal blessings 
 which were purchased by them, thou canst 
 repay his love with superficial vows of duty. 
 
 It is not enough that thy desires and reso- 
 lutions be lively and sincere ; they must be 
 uniform and universal. 
 
 Those desires and resolutions cannot be 
 sincere, which, while they urge us to make 
 partial sacrifices to the laws of God, still 
 seek to retain some favourite gratifications. 
 Those desires and resolutions cannot be sin- 
 
88 Wednesday Evening. 
 
 cere, which are only occasionally and rarely 
 e.verted. The ardours of holy desire and re- 
 solution should g\i)w \\\i\\ steady dir\(\ iiniform 
 fervour. No temptations, however seducing, 
 should dnnip them ; no duties, however diffi- 
 cult, should arrest them. The true penitent, 
 who is awakened to a due sense of the im- 
 mense debt of gratitude which he owes to 
 his Almighty Father and Redeemer, will not 
 measure his obedience by the cold calcula- 
 tions of selfish policy. His vows of duty will 
 burst forth from a heart beating with grateful 
 love. His vows of obedience will embrace 
 all the sacrifices to which devotion to his 
 blessed Lord may call him. They will extend 
 lO ty^-xy act of duty by which he may advance 
 the honour of his Redeemer and God. 
 
 Let, then, thy most ardent desires, O my 
 soul, be nniforinly exerted for deliverance 
 from the dominion of sinful passions, and 
 for a restoration to the image of thy Maker. 
 Offer not to God resolutions of duty, the fruit 
 of transitory glows of feeling. Let thy vows 
 of allegiance be founded on a deep conviction 
 of the obligations that should bind thee to 
 liim, of the ennobling nature of his service, 
 and of its glorious rewards. Except not from 
 thy vows of obedience any precept of thy Sa- 
 viour, though it may require thee to relinquish 
 the indulgence to which thou dost cling with 
 supreme affection. Resolve on that iiniversal 
 obedience to his commands which he re- 
 quires, and which alone he will accept. Then 
 
Wednesday Evening, 89 
 
 " shalt thou not be confounded, when thou 
 hast respect unto ail his commandments." 
 When disposed to murmur at the severity of 
 the sacrifices to which he calls thee, ai the 
 extent and difficulty of his service, cast thy 
 view upon the altar, contemplate the number 
 and poignancy of his sufTerinors for thee, ex- 
 plore the riches of his mercy and grace — and 
 blush that thou hast for a moment indulged 
 an ungrateful murmur; lament the inadequacy 
 of thy most znalous services to repay the debt 
 of love, and offer to the gracious Redeemer, 
 who bought thee with his blood, the hest tri- 
 bute thou canst render, though insufficient 
 ' and unworthy — zealous and uniform obedi- 
 ence to all his commands. 
 
 Thy desires for redemption from the domi- 
 nion of sin, and thy resolutions of obedience, 
 must be accompanied with thy own vigorous 
 exertions, and with the diligent use of all the 
 means of grace. 
 
 To work out thy salvation is, indeed, the 
 business that should occupy thy supreme 
 care. Consider how potent the sway which 
 sin maintains over thy affections. Consider 
 how deep the stain of iniquity which is to be 
 washed away. Consider how strong the 
 chnins of corrupt passion from whose thral- 
 dom thou art to be freed. Consif^er how 
 holy the graces with which thou must be in- 
 vest(^d. Consider how extensive and import- 
 ant tlie circle of duties thou must resolve to 
 discharge. Consider how many sacrifices 
 
 H 2 
 
90 Wednesday Evening, 
 
 must be made, how many obstacles must be 
 surmounted, in that course of holy obedience 
 to God which thou art bound to render. 
 Wilt thou indulge the expectation, that to 
 fulfil these momentous engagements, feeble 
 and occasional efforts only will be necessary? 
 Wilt thou hope to subdue the dominion of 
 sensual passions by those slight exertions 
 which thou wouldest deem it folly to apply to 
 any temporal enterprise that was difficult or 
 hazardous] Ah, the new and holy life, at 
 which thou must aim as the only pledge of 
 thy salvation, is opposed to the most powerful 
 propensities of thy fallen nature, to the spirit 
 of a corrupt world, to the pleasures wliich 
 from a thousand quarters assail thee with 
 their insinuating solicitations. Oh! what 
 vigorous exertions, what bold resolution, what 
 determined courage will be necessary to sur- 
 mount the obstacles which will oppose thee 
 in thy Christian course, and to enable tiiee to 
 persevere, with unshaken fidelity, in the ser- 
 vice of thy God. The utmost strength which 
 thou wult be able to bring to the contest with 
 thy spiritual enemies, the most vigorous ex- 
 ertions which thou wilt be able to engage in 
 the discharge of the high duties of the Chris- 
 tian life, will prove vain, unless invigorated 
 by the diligent use of the means of grace. 
 By devout reflection on the ennobling privi- 
 leges of thy holy vocation; by the serious 
 perusal of the pages of divine truth ; by hum- 
 ble and regular attendance on the ministra- 
 
IF dnesday Evening, 91 
 
 tions and ordinances of the sanctuary, where 
 the God of grace is ever ready to bless his 
 penitent worshippers ; above all, by frequent 
 and earnest prayer for the influences of the 
 Holy Spirit; — by these pious exercises only 
 wilt thou be able to advance in the course of 
 holiness, with that increasing zeal which will 
 insure success. Under the guidance of the 
 Holy Spirit, thou mayest attain the most ex- 
 alted heights of Christian virtue, but *' without 
 him thou canst do nothing." The giuice of 
 God is sufficient for the most diflicult trials — 
 his strength will be g\o\'\ou^\y perfected iti the 
 weakness of the most humble of his children. 
 By his almighty Spirit, '' the whole body of 
 the Church is governed and sanctified." The 
 work of sanctification, by which the soul is 
 redeemed from sin, and reinstated in the di- 
 vine image, is, in its commencement, its pro- 
 gress, and its consummation, conducted by 
 the agency of the Spirit of God. Not inde- 
 pendently on human exertions, but through 
 then instrumentaliti/ J does this blessed Spirit 
 effect the renovation of the soul. Work out 
 your salvation uith fear and tremblingj for 
 it is God who worketh in you both to will 
 and to do. Inscrutable, but claiming our 
 supreme adoration and gratitude, is the won- 
 derful method by which God accomplishes 
 our redemption. The Spirit of the Most High 
 descends and dwells in corrupt and fallen 
 man. O my soul, let the unsearchable wis- 
 dom of God prostrate the doubts of thy erring 
 
92 IFednesday Evening. 
 
 reason. Let not that mysterious agency, by 
 which thy redemption is effected, excite thy 
 scorn. Justly due to God is the tribute of 
 profound gratitude, that by the incomprehen- 
 sible but powerful communion of his Holy 
 Spirit with thee, he pours light and glory on 
 thy blind and corrupt affections. Humbly 
 and thankfully embrace the proffered grace 
 of God. Fervently and unceasingly implore 
 its sanctifying influences. Relying on its 
 powerful succours, aim at subduing every 
 depraved passion ; vow eternal allegiance to 
 the Lord thy God ; resolutely engage in that 
 life of holiness to which thy Saviour's com- 
 mands call thee. Behold ! he leaves thee not 
 defenceless — he imposes not restrictions and 
 duties, without conveying to thee his invigo- 
 rating aids — he does not call thee to renounce 
 the world, the flesh, and the devil, the enemies 
 of thy salvation, without providing armour for 
 the warfare, heavenly rewards to crown ihy 
 victories. Behold ! spread on the altar are the 
 symbols of that divine body and blood, which 
 convey immortal joys, invincible strength, to 
 the souls of his penitent people. Go, my 
 soul, seal over these symbols of his love the 
 holy resolution to renounce thy sins, those 
 enemies of his cross, those enemies of thy 
 peace. Go, my soul, over these precious 
 symbols of his love, vow eternal fidelity to 
 thy Lord — \ake up the cross and follow him, 
 though rhe path lie through the vale of suf- 
 fering and death. 
 
fVeclnesday Evening, 93 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 O God of everlasting mercy and salvation ! in- 
 finite source of compassion and love ! Worthy art 
 thou to receive blessing, and honour, and adoration, 
 and praise from all in heaven, and all in earth. For 
 thou hast made all things ; for thy good pleasure 
 they are, and were created ; and from thee, the 
 everlasting fountain of perfection, flow the glory 
 and excellence of all the works of thy hands. 
 Worthy art thou, O God of eternal mercies, to re- 
 ceive the supreme homage and service of the chil- 
 dren of men : For thou hast washed away their 
 sins in the blood of thy Son ; thou hast opened to 
 them, through the merits of a Redeems, the pros- 
 pect of immortal blessedness beyond the grave. 
 Penetrated with a sense of thy majesty and glory, 
 with a lively view of thine infinite compassion and 
 love, I acknowledge thy claims to my homage and 
 obedience — I acknowledge that all the powers of 
 my soul, with ardent affection and gratitude, should 
 ever have adored thy power, and celebrated thy 
 praise — I acknowledge that the sincere and con- 
 stant service of my life should have proclaimed 
 my devotion to thee, the profound sense of obliga- 
 tion to thy bounty and love. Author of my being ! 
 God of my salvation ! I bow myself in the dust 
 before thee, under the conviction of the presump- 
 tion and insensibility which have so long disclaim- 
 ed thy authority, and resisted the displays of thy 
 mercy. Awakened to a lively sense of the ingrati- 
 tude and baseness of my sinful course, of the de- 
 plorable folly and guilt of that career of transgres- 
 sion by which I have rebelled against thee, I now 
 desire to return unto thee, O my God. to cast my- 
 
94 Wednesday Evefmg, 
 
 self at the foot of thy throne, imploring thy forgive- 
 ness — 1 now desire to relinquish those corrupting 
 and disappointing pleasures, for which I have con- 
 temned thy authority and laws, and forfeited the 
 joys of thy favour — I desire to be rescued from 
 the dominion of my sinful passions, which are of- 
 fensive to thee, most holy God, and which termi- 
 nate in shame, remorse, and misery — fervently do 
 I desire to devote myself to thy service, to obtain 
 the satisfying joys of thy mercy and loving- kind- 
 ness. O most compassionate Father ! hear and 
 accept the sincere vows of duty which I offer at 
 thy throne. Thee, O God, I desire to choose as 
 my refuge tind portion — to thy glory and praise I 
 resolve to devo.e all the powers of my soul — for 
 that purity which will conform me to thine image, 
 I ardently pant — resolutely do 1 engage to fulfil 
 all thy comr .t.nds — cheerfully v/ill ^. sustain all the 
 sacrifices which thy service may require me to 
 make— vigcrously will I oppose the temptations 
 and difRcuities that would seduce or intimidate my 
 allegiance to thee — to thy disposal I resign myself; 
 patiently will I submit to all the chastenings of thy 
 hand. Thou knowest the humble sincerity of my 
 heart — thou knowest also, O God, its weakness 
 and depravity. O save me from a presumptuous 
 dependence on my own strength. Teach me ever- 
 more to rely on thee — to implore the succours of 
 thy Holy Spirit. Excite me diligently to use all 
 the means of illumination and grace. By the exer- 
 cises of meditation and prayer, may I seek to for- 
 tify myself for the conflict with sin and temptation, 
 O God ! on thy grace is my sole dependence — - 
 evermore refresh my soul by its succours and con- 
 solations. O grant that, by humble and earnest 
 
ff^ednesday Evening, 95 
 
 prayer, and bv diligent attendance on the ordinan- 
 cts\)t thy Church, I may obtain the influences of 
 thy Holy Spirit. By his almighty power may my 
 corrupt nature be quickened, renovated, and re- 
 deemed. Encouraged by thy gracious invitations, 
 and humbly relying on thy mercy, I go to the 
 sacred supper, where thou hast provided for thy 
 people heavenly and immortal tbod. O, w hen, at 
 his holy table, over the symbols of his body and 
 blood, I celebrate the love of my Saviour, and re- 
 new the vows of duty and obedience, — Spiri, of 
 God, impart to my soui thy holy unction — shed 
 thy invigorating and consoling graces — seal me to 
 the day of redemption — that finally advanced, by 
 thy power, to the courts of the celestial temple of 
 the living God, I may celebrate the love of my 
 Saviour in unceasing and eternal strains — and join 
 in the jubilee of adoration and praise to God, the 
 Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, for ever and 
 ever. Amen. 
 
 THURSDAY MORIVOG. 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 Fnith in rhnst. 
 
 As a creature and a sinner, man is depen=. 
 der5t on the will of his Sovereign Maker and 
 Jndge. Whatever God prescribes or com- 
 mands, that immediately becomes his duty 
 and happiness. God, in infinite wisdom and 
 goodness, has provided a plan of salvatioa 
 for fallen man. By the inscrutable determi- 
 
96 Thursday Morning, 
 
 nation of the Almighty Father, the eternal 
 Son, in the person of man, sustains the pen- 
 alties of a violated law ; and his obedience, 
 sufferings, and death, are accepted as an all- 
 sufficient atonement to offended justice. All 
 the blessinors of salvation are conveyed to us, 
 through the meritorious atonement of Christ; 
 and faith m him is made the indispensable 
 condition of our enjoying these blessings. 
 •* Believe on the Lurd Jesus Christ, and thou 
 shalt be saved." 
 
 Even then, i^ faith did not involve the ex- 
 ercise of the noblest powers of the under- 
 standing, and the most amiable virtues of the 
 heart; if it were not the powerful principle 
 which purifies the soul, and inspires every 
 act of holy obedience — still, as the command 
 of our Almighty Lawgiver and Judge, as the 
 prescribed condition of our salvation, it must 
 appear a necessary duty ; and it would evi- 
 dence the most criminal presumption, as well 
 as the greatest folly, to disregard it. The 
 holy sacrament of the supper presents the 
 Saviour offered up an almighty victim for sin. 
 His sufferings and death are represented as 
 the meritorious cause of our redemption. 
 The only fountain of pardoning mercy and 
 redeeming grace is opened in his body and 
 blood. While, therefore, we are ignorant of 
 these truths, or insensible to them, we cannot 
 be prepared for approaching that ordinance 
 which derives from them all its efficacy. Until 
 we cordially believe that the eternal Son of 
 
Thursday Morning, 97 
 
 God, in our nature, shed his blood to pur- 
 chase our redemption ; until we believe, that 
 through his merits alone we can have access 
 unto the throne of our offended Judge, and 
 that by his grace we must be sanctified and 
 restored to the favour of God ; the holy sacra- 
 ment of his supper, where he is set forth as 
 crucified for our redemption, will appear an 
 unmeaning rite; our participation of it svould 
 only be a mockery of God and the Saviour, 
 and tend to the condemnation of our souls. 
 Pardon, salvation, and grace, the blessings 
 of this sacred ordinance, are conveyed only 
 to the true believer The penitent, who is 
 awakened to a sense of his guilt and his sub- 
 jection to sin, will never experience rest or 
 peace until he heartily embraces the truths, 
 that the blood of the Saviour is all-sufficient 
 to cleanse from sin, and his grace all-powerful 
 to redeem from its dominion. 
 
 Let, then, thy most earnest solicitude, O 
 my soul, be directed to the examination, 
 whether thou dost possess thnt liveli/ fait k in 
 GoiTs mercy through Christ, which will con- 
 vey to thee holiness and peace, and in ike 
 thee an acceptable guest at the table of the 
 Lord. 
 
 Rest not satisfied in a faith which embraces 
 the Gospel merely as a well authenticated re- 
 cord of facts. Thou mayest acknowledge 
 the birth, life, and miracles of the Saviour. 
 Thou mayest cherish a high esteem for his 
 character and instructions. But wiiat will 
 
 I 
 
9S Thursday Morning, 
 
 this faith avail thee, while thou dost refuse 
 to receive the Saviour as thy merciful and 
 almighty Lord and Master^ by whose righte- 
 ous laws thou art to be guided, by whose 
 precious blood thou art to be redeemed, by 
 whose gracious spirit thou art to be sanctified 
 and governed! Was it not his primary, his 
 sole object, to effect the redemption of fallen 
 man from the guilt and dominion of sin 1 Are 
 not his all-sufficient merits and grace present- 
 ed to us as the certain means of our salvation? 
 A faith which, passing over these infinitely 
 momentous objects of the Redeemer's mis- 
 sion, regards him merely as a distinguished 
 personage, and barely assents to the various 
 events of his life, offers the most presumptu- 
 ous afiront to the dignity and glory of the 
 Saviour, and can lay no claim to the blessings 
 of his salvation. 
 
 Equally futile and presumptuous is a faith 
 "which enihraces the Gospel only as a system 
 of specidative truth. The superficial faith 
 just mentioned embraces the Gospel as an 
 authentic history of facts ; while it is indiffer- 
 ent to the truths which it promulgates, and 
 the duties which it enjoins. This speculative 
 faith advances further, and regarding Christ 
 as the author of divine truth, forms from his 
 Gospel a system of doctrines which it em- 
 braces on the ground of divine authority. 
 But this faith is fundamentally defective, in 
 considering the doctrines of Cii'*ist as intend- 
 ed merely to correct and regtilate the opinions 
 
Thursday Morrhg, 99 
 
 of men, and not principally to purify their 
 hearts. It is wholly insensible to the import- 
 ant truth, that the doctrines of the Gospel are 
 designed to redeem us from error and sin, 
 and to establish in the heart all divine and 
 holy graces. This speculative faith will never 
 impress on the soul her subjection to sin and 
 misery, her need of divine mercy and grace — 
 it will never awaken the exalted emotions of 
 love and gratitude to God, for the gift of his 
 Son to be the Redeemer of fallen man — it 
 will never excite that peace and joy which 
 arise from the experience of the mercy of the 
 Redeemer, and which urge to generous and 
 universal obedience to his commands. Un- 
 fruitful either of holiness or peace, it cannot 
 be a passport to the favour of that God who 
 requires the homage of the heart; it cannot 
 confer an interest in the merits of that Sa- 
 viour who came to establish in the soul the 
 kingdom o^ righteousness, peace, hndjoy. 
 
 Beware also of resting in an imperfect or 
 obscure faith, which does not thoroughly com- 
 prehend the jjJan of salvation, and which is 
 not deeply sensible of its value and efficacy. 
 
 Dost thou entertain, O my soul, only su- 
 perficial views of the evil and guilt of sin, and 
 of the necessity of the grace of the Saviour 
 to redeem thee from its power] Instead of 
 regarding his precious blood as the only foun- 
 tain of pardon, and his almighty grace as the 
 only source of holiness ; dost thou content 
 thyself with an occasional, a lukewarm con- 
 
leO Thursday Morning, 
 
 fi<1ence in his merits and power t Dost thou 
 rest thy hopes of salvation on the superficial 
 ideas which thou dost entertain of Christ, as 
 a benevolent personage, who is to procure 
 thy pardon with an offended God — ^instead of 
 cordially receiving iiim, in all his offices, as 
 the divine Prophet who is to instruct thee in 
 the will of God — as the merciful High Priest, 
 by whose atonement and intercession thou 
 art to have access unto the Father— as the 
 glorious King, by whose laws thou art to be 
 governed, to whose righteous authority thou 
 art to be subject, by whose victorious grace 
 thou art to be defended and finally exalted 
 to everlasting glory 1 Ah, my soul ! this im- 
 perfect and obscure faith in the Saviour, on 
 which thou dost rest thy salvation, will dis- 
 appoint and condemn thee. Weak and irre- 
 solute, it will not allay the pangs of guilt; it 
 will not repel the assaults of temptation ; it 
 will not subdue the power of sinful passion ; 
 it will not inspire thee with serenity and hope 
 at that tribimal, where a supreme affiance on 
 thy Saviour's merits will be thy only refuge 
 from the condemning scrutiny of thy Almighty 
 Judge. 
 
 The faith, then, which is effectual to salva- 
 tion, and which, in the participation of the 
 holy supper, will vitally unite the devout com- 
 municant to his Lord and Saviour, does not 
 consist in a bare acknowledgment of the truth 
 oi\\\e facts recorded concerning the character 
 and life of Christ ; in a speculative belief in 
 
Thursday Morning, 101 
 
 his Gospel, as an excellent /Aeory of religious 
 and moral truth ; or in a loose and general 
 trust in the Saviour, without a clear, lively, 
 and just apprehension of his character and 
 offices. To approach the altar with these 
 imperfect, speculative, and feeble views of 
 the Saviour, would be casting dishonour on 
 the precious efficacy of his blood — insult and 
 mockery on his divine dignity and power. 
 
 Thai genuine faith which will lead the soul 
 to Christ as her only refuge, must be founded 
 on a livclij conviction of our guilt and misery. 
 On the degeneracy and guilt of human nature 
 is the superstructure of redemption raised. 
 Merely io instruct mankind; merely to im- 
 prove the code of moral duties ; merely to 
 display an example of virtue, it surely was not 
 necessary that the eternal Son of the Highest 
 should divest himself of the majesty and bliss 
 of tlie Godhead, should descend into this vale 
 of sin and misery, and veil his eternal glories 
 in the horrors of the cross. Man is a fallen 
 and guilty creature. A divine Personage only 
 can vindicate the insulted 3Iajesty of heaven, 
 and by his sufferings and death appease the 
 claims of divine justice. Behold here the 
 truths which develope the mystery of redemp- 
 tion; which present an object worthy of the 
 infinite condescension of the Son of God; 
 which shed resplendent light on the gloom 
 that envelops the cross. '* The word was 
 made flesh," "the Son of God humbled him- 
 self to the death of the cross," that man^ 
 
 1 2 
 
102 Thursday Morning. 
 
 " dead in trespasses am! sins," might be 
 " quickened" to the gUorious hopes of pardon, 
 holiness, and immortality. From a lively 
 conviction then of thy guilt and misery, O my 
 soul, must arise the virtue of evangelical faith. 
 This conviction alone will avi^aken a sense of 
 thy urgent need of a Saviour, and excite thy 
 earnest desires for his pardoning mercy and 
 renovating grace. " Christ came to seek and 
 to save that which was lost." " The whole 
 need not a physician, but they that are sick." 
 Lost to the favour of God, and to every claim 
 to his mercy, thou must acknowledge thyself 
 to be, before thou wilt repose on the merits 
 and powder of him who is mighty to save. 
 The taint of sin thou must deeply feel and 
 deplore, before thou wilt have recourse to the 
 purifying fountain opened in the Redeemer's 
 blood. Thou must be earnestly desirous to 
 be rescued from the condemning bondage of 
 sin, before thou wilt embrace the glorious 
 Saviour offered to thee, under the symbols of 
 the altar, in the satisfying fulness of his mercy 
 and grace. 
 
 The faith which will vitally unite thee to 
 thy Redeemer, and prove effectual to thy sal- 
 vation, founded on a deep sense of thy guilt 
 and misery, must lead thee cordially, su- 
 fremely, and joyfnlly, to rely on the all-suffi' 
 dent merits of Christ for pardon^ and on 
 his all-powerful grace for complete redemp- 
 tion, God hath " set forth his Son to be a 
 propitiation for the sins of the world ;" and it 
 
Thursday Morning, 105 
 
 is bis merciful declaration, that " whosoever 
 believeth in him should not perish, but should 
 have everlasting life." When, by the convic- 
 tion of his guilt, condemnation, and misery, 
 " every high and lofty imagination is brought 
 down," the sinner will be disposed humbly to 
 submit to the plan which the wisdom and 
 goodness of God have provided for his re- 
 demption. When his understanding is " en- 
 lightened to discern" the excellence and glory 
 of the Saviour, and the divine mercy and 
 grace which are shed around the eternal Son 
 of the Father; when he views the fulness of 
 peace and salvation in that divine Redeemer 
 who invites *^ the weary and heavy laden to 
 come unto him and receive rest" — the humble 
 and contrite sinner will repose with cordial, 
 supreme, and joijful affiance on him whom 
 " God hath exalted to be a Prince and a Sa- 
 viour," to dispense to the penitent pardon, 
 grace, and everlasting redemption. 
 
 Disclaiming all presumptuous dependence 
 on his own righteousness and strength, the 
 reliance of the true believer on his Saviour is 
 entire and supreme. In the merits and power 
 of J^sus Christ he discerns his only refuge 
 from the terrors of a violated law; the only 
 means of his redemption from the dominion 
 of sin ; the only armour with which he can 
 repel the assaults of his spiritual enemies ; 
 his only pledge of exaltation to the felicities 
 of heaven. Evermore " looking unto Jesus" 
 for every spiritual blessing, he will, with su- 
 
104 Thursday Morning. 
 
 preme and grateful affection, adore and bless 
 his Saviour, as " the author and finisher of 
 his salvation." 
 
 To his Redeemer, rich in grace and mercy, 
 he clings with faith lixehj and vigorous — a 
 faith which, realizing the all-sufficiency of 
 the atonement of Christ, the almighty power 
 of his grace, and liis infinite willingness to 
 save, allays every apprehension, and inspires 
 holy hope and triumph. 
 
 The reliance of the true believer in liis 
 Saviour, is also uniform and steadfast. Em- 
 phatically it may be said of him, that he 
 *• Jives by faith." Faith is the animating 
 principle which inspires and preserves his 
 spiritual life — the fountain whence flow all 
 his virtues and all his consolations. 
 
 But it is the consummation of the excel- 
 lence of genuine faith, and it is its inseparable 
 characteristic, that it " icorks hj love,^'' that 
 *' \i purifies the heart,^^ that it " overcomes the 
 tcorld.^^ Faith is, in the true believer, an 
 active principle, which is ever inspiring him 
 with the most ardent love to that God who 
 has mercifully provided for him the means of 
 redemption, and to that Saviour through 
 whom alone he is redeemed from sin, and 
 misery, nnd death. It is an invigorating prin- 
 ciple, which is ever urging the true believer 
 to testify, by the most exalted acts of obedi- 
 ence, the divine love which warms his heart ; 
 and to endeavour to advance, by the uniform 
 service of his life, the honour and glory of his 
 
Thursday Morning, 105 
 
 Cfod and Saviour. It is a purifyincr principle 
 which, by subduing the dominion of sin, re-^ 
 moves sense of guilt from the conscience; 
 which, by the impressing upon the soul the 
 holy image of God, restores her to the joys of 
 her favour ; which prepares us for the felicity 
 of heaven, by forming in us those holy graces 
 that yield on earth a foretaste of celestial joys. 
 The true believer acknowledges the Saviour, 
 not only as the gracious High Priest, by 
 w^hose atonement and intercession he is res- 
 cued from guilt and condemnation ; but as the 
 divine Prophet, who illumines the soul with 
 celestial truth; and as the almighty King, 
 who establishes in the heart the dominion of 
 righteousness, and who claims the submissive 
 homage of his people. 
 
 Behold now, my soul, the exalted charac- 
 teristics of that faith, which alone is effectual 
 to salvation. Founded on a lively sense of 
 the guilt and condemnation in which, through 
 sin, he is involved, it opens to the true pen- 
 itent the mercy and grace of the Saviour, and 
 excites him, disclaiming every other depen- 
 dence, to rely with supreme, lively, and uni- 
 form confidence, on the merits and power of 
 Christ, for pardon and salvation. An active 
 and vigorous principle, it renews and purifies 
 the heart ; and excites the believer to aim at 
 that universal obedience, by which alone he 
 can glorify his Saviour, and prepare his soul 
 for the fruition of the holy presence of his 
 God. 
 
106 Thursday Morrting. 
 
 This supreme, lively, and obedient faith in 
 Christ, O my soul, is made, by the decree of 
 God, thy Almighty Lawgiver and Judge, the 
 indispensable condition of thy salvation. By 
 this exalted principle alone canst thou testify 
 thy generous sensibility to the infinite glory 
 and love of thy Redeemer, or obtain the in- 
 estimable blessings of pardon, peace, and 
 everlasting glory. It is this divine faith which, 
 applying to the soul the Saviour's merits and 
 grace, plucks from her the sting of guilt; 
 bursts the chains of sin; and finally bears the 
 soul triumphant over death, in the robes of 
 celestial righteousness, to the throne of her 
 Redeemer and God. 
 
 Blest is thy state, O ray soul, glorious thy^ 
 destiny, if thou art animated by this exalted 
 faith in the Son of God. To the pangs of 
 conscience thou canst apply the pacifying 
 merits of the Saviour's blood. To the phrensy 
 of guilty passion thou canst oppose the con- 
 quering energies of liis grace. Clad in a 
 panoply of celestial power, thou shalt sustain, 
 unhurt, the assaults of thy spiritual enemies. 
 Death himself shall see his shafts fall harm- 
 less at thy feet, and behold thee, contemning 
 his enraged efforts, enter on the felicities of 
 an immortal kingdom. Glorious triumphs of 
 Christian faith ! O my soul, aim at obtaining 
 the highest energies of this divine virtue. 
 Cultivate a lively sense of thy degeneracy and 
 guilt. Cherish glowing views of the mercy 
 and power of Christ. Implore the quickening 
 
Thursdaif Morning. 107 
 
 spirit of ^race to unite thee to thy Saviour, 
 bv a consoling, holy, and triumphant faith. 
 Behold ! seated on the throne of mercy erect- 
 ed on the altar, he now waits to bless thee 
 with his love. Opening to the guilty sons of 
 men the living fountain of salvation, he in- 
 vites them to " come and drink of the waters 
 of life freely." *' Without money and without 
 price," he dispenses the blessings of his grace. 
 Urgently needing his mercy, O my soul, refuse 
 not the solicitations of his love. Weak and 
 humble as thy faith may be, if it has only 
 awakened a conviction of thy need of a Sa- 
 viour, and a desire to partake of the blessings 
 of his salvation^ — go — and he who came not 
 *^ to break the bruised reed," or to reject the 
 desire of the humblest of his children, will 
 encircle thee with the arms of his mercy — 
 will cherish, by his grace, thy feeble faith ; 
 until, vigorous and triumphant, it reposes on 
 him, in the fulness of peace, hope, and salva- 
 tion. 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 O MOST blessed and glorious Lord God ! who, 
 in infinite compassion, hast given thine only Son 
 to be the Saviour of mankind, and art in him re- 
 conciling the world unto thyself, not imputing 
 unto us our trespasses and sins ; teach me u ith 
 dtep humility and lively gratitude to adore and 
 bless thee for the transcendent display of grace and 
 mercy in the plan of salvation through Jesus Christ. 
 
108 Thursday Morning* 
 
 May this adorable myster}^ of love engage my pro- 
 found contemplations, and my lively affections. 
 May my most fervent desires be excited, my most 
 earnest exertions roused, to obtain the inestimable 
 blessings of this great salvation. Inspire me, O 
 God, with that faith which will unite me to the 
 Redeemer, and be the pledge of my forgiveness 
 and everlasting redemption. Teach me humbly 
 to adore thy sovereign will, in r squiring fmth in thy 
 Sony as the indispensable condition of thy mercy. 
 Enable me to form profound, just, and lively views 
 of this exalted virtue. May I not rest contented 
 in a nominal acknowledgment of the Saviour ; in 
 a speculative and unfrniriul belief in his doctrines ; 
 or in an iiidistinct and general view of his character 
 and offices. O teach me, that these external, su* 
 perficial, and imperfect views of Christ, thy blessed 
 Son, while they dishonour his dignity and glory, 
 will not stand the scrutiny of thy justice, will not 
 convey peace and consolation to my soul, or entitle 
 me to the joys of thy favour. Teach me to lay 
 the foundation of my faith in a deep conviction of 
 my unworthmess and guilt. And when thus awa- 
 kened and alarmed, O do thou enlighten me to 
 discern the excellence and glory of Christ Jesus ; 
 and to apply his precious blood to my consolation 
 and peace. May I discern the all-sufficiency of his 
 merits ; the perfection of his righteousness ; the 
 fulness of his grace ; his ability and willingness to 
 save. May I cordially, joyfully, and steadfastly 
 repose on him as the Almighty Mediator, by whose 
 riffhteousness alone 1 can be justified ; by whose 
 Spirit alone sanctified ar.d saved. Ma} my faith 
 purify my heart, raise me above the unhallowed 
 
Thursday Morning. 109 
 
 gratifications of the world, and form in my soul 
 the holy graces and virtues which will prepare aie 
 for the fruition of thy presence. Thy grace alone, 
 Almighty (jod, can inspire and perfect my laith, 
 — earnestly I implore thy quickening and sanctify- 
 ing strength. Lead me humbly and thankfully to 
 that spiritual banquet, where every holy grace of 
 the soul is nourished and strengthened by the body 
 and blood of thy Son. There, O God, '.nay I seal, 
 through faith, my title to tiiy favour; there may 
 the smiles of thy reconciled countenance be shed 
 upon me ; and there may my weak and humble 
 faith be quickened to the holy triumphs of joyful 
 assurance and hope, through the mighty power of 
 that Redeemer, who, as the eternal Son of thy love, 
 liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, 
 ever one God, world without end. Amen, 
 
 THURSDAF EV£3riAG. 
 
 MEDITA nON. 
 
 Taitli in Christ as the eternal Son of God, and as a Prophet, a Priest, 
 and King. 
 
 Thou dost perceive, O my soul, that faith 
 in Christ consists in such a lively, supreme, 
 and steadfiist reliance on his merits and 
 grace, as produces peace of conscience, joy 
 in the favour of God, redemption from the 
 dominion of sin, sincere devotion to the Sa- 
 viour, isniversal obedience to his commands. 
 This f. th necessarily implies a just and lively 
 view of his glorious chdracter and offices. 
 
 K 
 
1 10 Thursday Evening, 
 
 Until the glories of Christ, and his important 
 offices, are fully displayed to our minds, we 
 shall not discern the all-sufficiency of his 
 merits, his almighty powei* to save us, his 
 supreme claims to our homage and obedience. 
 Faith, when exercised upon the Saviour fa 
 the various offices which he sustains towards 
 us, is a most sublime, ennobling, and consol- 
 ing principle. It opens to our astonished 
 contemplations, those eternal glories of the 
 Godhead which were centred in the person 
 of Jesus Christ. It exhibits this Saviour dis- 
 pensing the luminous revelation of the attri- 
 butes and will of Jehovah ; of the duties, 
 hopes, and final destiny of man. It displays 
 jhim, clothed in the garments of righteousness 
 and mercy, standing before the altar of divine 
 justice, and sending up that costly incense of 
 his blood, which propitiates the holy indigna- 
 tion of an offended God, and invokes for 
 man the blessings of peace and salvation. It 
 displays him, " clad with the garments of 
 yengeance," — *' with zeal as with a cloak,'* 
 marching triumphant over his adversaries, 
 " treading them down in his anger, and 
 trampling them in his fury," — and finally as- 
 cending, in majesty and power, to the throne 
 of universal dominion; where he rules, the 
 conqueror of death and hell, dispensing to 
 his people the succours of his grace, and re- 
 ceiving their homage and obedience, as the 
 King and Captain of their salvation. When 
 the believer sincerely embraces his Saviour 
 
Thursday Evening, 1 1 1 
 
 in all these glorious offices, as the eternal Son 
 of the Father, as the illustrious Prophet of 
 the Highest, as the atoning Priest and Inter- 
 cessor of his people, as the resistless King 
 and Captain of their salvation — adoration, 
 gratitude, love, and joy, will swell his soul. 
 Every thought, every power, every affection, 
 will celebrate the Saviour's glory. Uniform, 
 sincere, zealous obedience, will attest the 
 sincerity of the ardent devotion of the believer 
 to his Almighty Lord and King. 
 
 From a lively belief in the divine character 
 and glorious offices of the Saviour, thou must 
 derive, O my soul, peace, holiness, and con- 
 solation. And this faith should be in holy 
 exercise when thou art to partake of that or- 
 dinance, the efficacy of which will depend on 
 thy lively apprehension of that Saviour, whom 
 it sets forth as thy strength and refuge. 
 
 Contemplate then the Saviour, with lively 
 faith, as the eternal Son of the Father. 
 
 The voice of the prophets, his forerunners ; 
 the declarations of his inspired apostles at- 
 testing his own pretensions ; the exalted offices 
 which he came to execute ; the glorious tri-^ 
 umphs of his cross; the eternal throne, on 
 which he governs, and will, finally, judge the 
 world ; all proclaim his divine dignity and 
 glory, and urge thee, with supreme faith, to 
 adore him as thy Lord and thy God, Hear 
 the glorious names and titles of divinity con- 
 ferred by the prophets on the Messiah that 
 was to come — *' Emanuel, God with us — Tho 
 
112 Thursday Evening, 
 
 3^ightj/ God— The Lord our righteousness— 
 The Lord who shall suddenly come to his 
 temple — The God whose throne is for ever 
 and ever." Hear the united testimony of the 
 holy apostles, who, in declaring that Christ 
 was " God manifest in the flesh," and that in 
 him " dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead," 
 only confirm the divine pretensions ofJesuB 
 himself, " I and the Father am one — I am 
 Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the 
 end, the first and the last, which was, and 
 which is, and which is to come, the Almighty J'^ 
 The exalted offices which he came to execute — 
 to unfold the eternal counsels of the Father — 
 to establish the everlasting rules of truth and 
 duty — to satisfy the claims of divine holiness 
 and justice — to demolish the dominion which 
 sin and death had established over mankind — 
 to open the gates of everlasting bliss which 
 divine wrath had closed against a guilty world 
 — these are offices which a creature, stamped 
 with native weakness, could never execute — 
 they require the omnipotent strength of the 
 Creator of the universe — they claim for Jesus, 
 who triumphantly executes them, divine and 
 eternal powers. The triumphs of his cross, 
 which bore down the opposing prejudices, 
 learning, and power of the world, and still 
 reduces under its sway the perverse imagina- 
 tions of the heart, proclaim the divinity of 
 that Jesus who, though he suffered as a male- 
 factor, confers upon the cross, which was 
 the mark of ignominy, these divine powers. 
 
Thursday Evening. 113 
 
 View, finally, the glorious throne on which 
 he sfoverns, and will, at last, judge the world. 
 What divine splendour surrounds it — How 
 extensive and resistless its dominion — How 
 powerful its decrees — What thunders burst 
 from it, on the impenitent adversaries of God 
 — What immortal felicities are dispensed from 
 it to his obedient subjects — What divine and 
 immortal honours are paid to the glorious 
 Personage who is sealed on it, holding " the 
 keys of hell and death" — " Thousand thou- 
 sands stand before him, ten thousand times 
 ten thousand minister unto him." — The host 
 of heaven present their eternal adoration to 
 him, who is infinitely exalted above the most 
 perfect of their celestial orders, " the King 
 of kings and Lord of lords." Ah, my soul, 
 these are illustrious proofs that he with whom 
 thou art to confide thy everlasting salvation, 
 is, indeed, thy Lord and thy God, claiming 
 thy most profound homage, thy unbounded 
 confidence, thy unreserved submission. In 
 every view which faith opens to thee of the 
 Saviour, fix thy contemplations on the glory 
 of liis divine nature. When thou dost repose 
 on the omnipotent arm of a divine Saviour, 
 the emotions of love shall be exalted, the 
 ardours of hope strengthened, the triumphs 
 of thy faith shall rise above all the enemies 
 of thy salvation. What sublime avye surr 
 rounds the symbols of the altar, when faith 
 discloses to thee the glories of Ihe incarnate 
 God, whom they set forth ! Oh ! wli^t revC'^ 
 
114 Thursday Evening, 
 
 rential, yet what delightful emotions swell the 
 bosom of the believing communicant, when, 
 in the reception of the sacred elements, he 
 enjoys the exalted assurance, that he is united 
 to a divine Saviour — that he is admitted into 
 communion with the Son of God — that in the 
 person of that blessed Redeemer, to whom 
 he has committed the salvation of his soul, 
 dwell all those divine attributes which are 
 calculated to invigorate his love, his gratitude, 
 his joy, his holy triumphs. 
 
 The lively exercises of faith should be di- 
 rected to thu Saviour as the divine Prophet, 
 by whom we are instructed in the laws and 
 counsels of God. 
 
 Through him were the beams of truth to 
 be shed on a world enveloped with the shades 
 of error — through him was the benighted 
 mind to be enlightened in that spiritual know- 
 ledge which its most exalted researches could 
 never attain. Behold, O my soul, what in- 
 finite claims, as thy divine instructor, the 
 Saviour possesses to thy reverence and obe- 
 dience. He whom thou art to receive as thy 
 Prophet, is himself the eternal Word — he was 
 from all eternity in the bosom of the Father 
 — in him dwelt the Holy Spirit without mea- 
 sure. Perfectly acquainted, therefore, must 
 he have been with the will of his Almighty 
 Father. To the prophetic office he was illus- 
 triously inaugurated, by the overshadowing of 
 the Highest, by the descent of the Holy Ghost, 
 by the solemn declaration of the Father, this 
 
T/nirsday Evemng. 115 
 
 is my beloved Son, hear ye him. Gloriously 
 does this divine Prophet execute his office. 
 A luminous revelation of divine truth, de- 
 veloping the attributes of the Godhead, the 
 means of access to the throne of offended 
 justice, the universal circle of religions, moral, 
 and social duties, the eternal mansions be- 
 yond the grave, did this celestial Prophet 
 promulgate. By stupendous miracles, which 
 proved that his power was from on his^h, did 
 he enforce his doctrines — by his own splendid 
 example, did he urge his holy precepts — by 
 the shedding of his precious blood, did he 
 put the seal to the divinity of his mission. 
 Evangelists and apostles he inspired to pro- 
 claim his Gospel to the world — in the oracles 
 of the law and the testimony, we still behold 
 the divine truths of salvation — through the 
 ministrations and ordinances of the sanctuary, 
 Christ, our Almighty Prophet, still sheds on 
 the soul that enlighteninof radiance which 
 discloses to her the excellence and consola- 
 tions of divine truth. Oh! my soul; when the 
 blindness, the depravity of human reason, 
 forced upon thee by thy own experience, and 
 by the view of the world sunk in ignorance 
 and error, awaken the anxious desire to find 
 a refuge from thy perplexing doubts in the 
 bosom of an infallible instructor — embrace, 
 by faith, th^t holy Jesus who was " anointed 
 with the Holy Ghost, and with power," " to 
 preach good tidings unto the meek," " to 
 put his laws into the hearts," and " to write 
 
116 Thursday Evening. 
 
 them upon the minds'* of the children of men- 
 Bring all thy errors, thy doubts, and preju- 
 dices at his feet; humbly implore that guid- 
 ance which will translate thee from the dark- 
 ness of natural reason into the light of celes- 
 tial truth. liet every approach to the holy 
 supper be embraced with ardour, as affording 
 thee an opportunity of renewing the exercises 
 of faith in Christ, thy divine Prophet, and of 
 contemplating with admiration and gratitude 
 the excellencies of that instructor, on whose 
 head rests the radiance of the Godhead^ from 
 whose lips flow the accents of truth. At the 
 altar, where thou dost commemorate the in- 
 finite condescension of this divine guide, seal 
 thy vows of bringing every thought into cap- 
 tivity to his obedience, and of embracing, as 
 the subjects of thy daily and reverential medi- 
 tations, as the standards by which thy opinions 
 are to be formed and thy practice regulated, 
 as the infallible guides by which thou art to 
 be conducted through the mazes of error and 
 sin, to the glorious fulness of eternal truth — 
 the inestimable revelations and laws of that 
 blessed Redeemer, who only is the way, the 
 truth, and the life. 
 
 Behold what exalted claims the Saviour 
 possesses to thy lively faitii as a gracious 
 Priest and Intercessor, 
 
 For man sunk under the condemniner sen- 
 tence of a violated law, and obnoxious to 
 divine wrath, he '' gave himself an offering, 
 and sacrifice unto God-" " Holy, harmless. 
 
Thursday Evening, 117 
 
 undefiled," shedding over the atonement 
 which he offered, the glories of his divinity, 
 he made " a full, free, and sufficient sacrifice, 
 oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the 
 whole world." Ascending up on high, into 
 the holy of holies, not made with hands, he 
 presents before the altar of divine justice the 
 all-sufficient incense of his merits, and averts 
 from all penitent believers the wrath of an 
 indignant Judge. Seated on the right hand 
 of God, " he ever liveth to make intercession 
 for us" — he implores from his Almighty Fa- 
 ther the blessings of pardon, grace, and holi- 
 ness, which, through him, descend on his 
 penitent people. 
 
 Infinitely glorious and powerful, O my soul, 
 Is the gracious High Priest through whose 
 merits and intercession thou art to be restored 
 to the reconciled countenance of thy oflfended 
 God. Vested with almighty power to save 
 those who were the purchase of his blood, in 
 enlivening language he declares the riches of 
 his redemption, and invites the humble and 
 penitent to come and receive the satisfying 
 fulness of his love. I have been crushed in 
 the wine-press by the arm of divine justice. I 
 have drunk the aregs of that cup of trembling 
 into which the Almighty Father, incensed at 
 your presumptuous rebellion, emptied the vials 
 of his wrath. But 1 was wounded for your 
 transgressions ; I was bruised for your ini- 
 quities ; the chastisement of your peace was 
 upon me ; and by my stripes ye are healed* 
 
118 Thursday Evening, 
 
 Yes, the sentence of condemnation gone forth 
 against you I have nailed to my cross. My 
 blood has flowed an all-sufficient ransom for 
 the guilty. Sprinkled on the mercy-seat, it 
 ascends as acceptable incense to the Father, 
 and propitiates his justice. By the blood of 
 my cross have I made peace. Crowned for 
 the suffering of death with glory and honour, 
 at the right hand of the Father, I am exalted, 
 the prevailing Intercessor for the guilty sons 
 of men, dispensing pardon to the humble and 
 penitent. Come then unto me, all ye who 
 labour and are heavy kden, and I will give 
 you rest. Be not dismayed by the number 
 or enormity of your sins which call for ven- 
 geance. All powerful is the efficacy of my 
 blood. Though your sins be as scarlet, they 
 shall be white as sr>ow; though they be red 
 like crimson, they shall be as wool. 
 
 O my soul, let the affectionate invitation of 
 thy compassionate High Priest excite thee 
 to place thy supreme confidence in his all- 
 sufficient merits and prevailing intercession. 
 When discerning the inflexible claims of 
 God's justice, and the unspotted rigour of 
 divine holiness, thou dost tremble under the 
 sentence of condemnation which thy sins have 
 merited, look with lively and joyful afl[iance 
 to that compassionate Saviour who has expi- 
 ated thy guilt by the merits of his blood. 
 The divine fountain, whence flow the streams 
 of pardon and comfort, is still opened in that 
 ordinance which the Redeemer instituted as 
 
Thursday Evening, 119 
 
 the memorial of his wsufferings, and the pledge 
 of thy salvation. There thy compassionate 
 High Priest is wailing to sprinkle thee with 
 that precious blood which will be the pledge 
 of thy deliverance from the stroke of divine 
 justice. Behold ! infinite mercy and infinite 
 power surround the Saviour with their glori- 
 ous effulgence, and invite the fervours of con- 
 fidence, the triumphs of holy hope* Wretched 
 and guilty, flee to this friend of the wretched, 
 this almighty Saviour of sinners, devoting 
 thyself to his service, rendering him thy 
 homage and trust; Sheltered in his compas- 
 sionate bosom, thou shall view, undismayed, 
 the storms of wrath that overwhelm the un" 
 godly. By the merits and power of this great 
 High Priest of thy salvation, thou shalt be 
 conducted to the light of the reconciled coun- 
 tenance of thy heavenly Father. The blood 
 of the all-sufiicient victim, which still, under 
 a lively symbol, flows on the altar, received 
 by steadfast faith, will allay every doubt and 
 pang which thy guilty fears awakeneth, and 
 pour upon thee unfailing consolations. O 
 thou gracious Saviour, the merciful High 
 Priest, through whom we have access unto 
 the Father, impotent are the highest eflforts 
 of the soul to conceive the glories o^ thy 
 righteousness, the merit of thy intercessioir. 
 Impotent are our most exalted feelings, to 
 render thee the just tribute of gratitude for 
 that ineflfable peace which the healing balm 
 
120 Thursday Evening. 
 
 of thy mercy dispenses to the bosom that 
 reposses upon thee. 
 
 Behold, O my soul, the exalted claims of 
 Jesus to thy homage, thy submission and 
 obedience, as thy Almighty King, 
 
 He is the eternal King whom God hath 
 " set upon the holy hill of Zion — of the in- 
 crease of whose government there shall be 
 no end. He is the head of all principality 
 and power. At his divine name every knee 
 shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in 
 earth, and things under the earth." By the 
 sovereign power of God was Jesus exalted^ 
 in his human nature, to the throne of the 
 universe. " God raised him from the dead, 
 and set him at his own right hand, far above 
 all principality, and power, and might, and 
 dominion." " Prince of the kings of the 
 earth," and head of all the armies of heaven, 
 he hath " on his vesture and on his thigh a 
 name written. King of kings and Lord of 
 lords," O my soul, with the homage of livtily 
 faith, shouldesi thou submit to that gloiious 
 King by whose grace alone thou canst be 
 redeemed from the bondage of sm, by whose 
 glmighty power alone thou canst be rescued 
 from the dominion o^ death and the grave. 
 
 In vain wilt thou attempt to break the 
 chains of sm, unless thy Almighty King exerts 
 the sceptre of his grace. Errors and preju- 
 dices duud thy understanding; sensual appe- 
 tites and passions debase thy powers ; temp- 
 
Thursday Evening, 121 
 
 tation seduces and enthrals thee. Sinking 
 in despair, raise the ardours of holy faith to 
 the glorious King, who, in the accents of 
 animating triumph^ invites thee to repose on 
 his almighty arm-^I am he who giveth you 
 the victory. The spirit of the Lord is upon 
 me, for he hath anointed me to proclaim 
 liberty to the captives, and the opening of the 
 prison to them that are bound. Strengthen 
 the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. 
 My grace shall be sufficient for you, my 
 strength shall be made perfect in your weak- 
 ness. Fear not then, for I am with you. Be 
 not dismayed, for I am your God. I will 
 strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold 
 you with the right hand of my righteousness. 
 Trust in me for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah 
 there is everlasting strength. O my soul, 
 bow with sub ni^ssive iiid holy confidence to 
 the sceptre of thy glorious and invincible 
 Redeemer. He will subdue thy rebellious 
 passions, and introduce the celestial reign of 
 peace and love. Wait upon him with perse- 
 vering faith, in that ordinance where he dis- 
 penses the pledges of his grace, and thou 
 shalt see his salvation displayed in thy re- 
 demption from the bondage of sin. Rescued 
 by his grace from the dominion of unholy 
 passions, thou shalt rejoice in the glorious 
 liberty of the sons of God. 
 
 O my soul, when thou hast escaped from 
 the dominion of sin, a contest still more for- 
 midable awaits thee. Deaths thy implacable 
 
 L 
 
122 Thursday Everdng^ 
 
 enemy, will seek to crush thee. Whence 
 wilt thou derive the armour that will enable 
 thee to quench his fiery darts, and to bind, 
 under thy victorious feet, this tyrant of the 
 human race I What power will exalt thee to 
 those seals of blessedness which no strength 
 of nature can attain, and which infinitely ex- 
 ceed the merit of thy virtues \ Thy Almighty 
 King, in majestic power, proclaims himself 
 the glorious Conqueror, under whose banners 
 thou art to be led to victory over death and 
 the grave. I am he that liveth and was dead ; 
 and, behold, I am alive for evermore, and 
 Iiave the keys of hell and of death. O death, 
 I have been thy plagues; O grave, 1 have 
 been thy destruction. Fear not then, ye who 
 iiumbly repose on my omnipotent arm. I will 
 redeem you from death, 1 will ransom you 
 from the power of the grave. Your corrup- 
 tion shali put on incorruption, and your mortal 
 immortaiiiy. In that glorious kingdom on 
 which I have entered, I have prepared seats 
 for you ; and where 1 am, there ye shall be 
 also. Thy Almighty Saviour and King, O my 
 soul, after having conducted thee triumphantly 
 through the assaults of thy spiritual foes, will 
 not desert thee in that last awful conflict, 
 when death enfolds thee in his embrace. 
 Faith in that Almighty King, wiiose unseen 
 but po\verful arm supports thee, will enable 
 thee to re{)el the assaults of thy foe. 
 
 In the ardours of lively faith and gratitude, 
 O, then^ for ever magnify the all-conquering 
 
<yh 
 
 Thursday Evening, 12 
 
 power of the King and Captain of thy salva- 
 tion. To invigorate thy confidence, and to 
 enliven thy hope, he provides for thee, in his 
 lioly supper, pledges of liis grace and love. 
 Penetrate, then, through the vail of sense^ 
 and in the humble elements of the altar be- 
 hold, by the eye of faith, the immortal body 
 and blood of thy Redeemer, by v/hich thou 
 art nourished and strengthened to everlasting- 
 life. On the altar Jesus erects the throne of 
 resistless dominion, and extends that sceptre 
 which is the pledge of triumph to his followers 
 over the assaults of the powers of darkness. 
 Be it thy habitual care to renew, in the holy 
 eucharist, thy vows of faith in thy divine 
 Redeemer, of subjection to his sovereign 
 sway. His body and blood shall nourish and 
 strengthen thee to everlasting life. Oh ! es- 
 teem it a glorious privilege which should ex- 
 cite thy most lively gratitude, that during thy 
 wearisome sojourn in this vale of tears, thou 
 art permitted to refresh thy drooping spirits 
 at tiie fountain of immortal joys. Ever has- 
 ten, with reverent and holy triumph, to that 
 ordinance, where thy glorious King dispenses 
 strength, victory, eternal life. There prepare 
 thyself, by invigorating supplies of grace, for 
 the conflict, which, before the crown of glory 
 rewards thee, thou must sustain with the King 
 of Terrors. And when the pangs of sickness, 
 or the decays of frail nature, proclaim the 
 near approach of thy last enemy, seek, with 
 ' renewed frequency and fervour, the pledges 
 
124 lliw'sdaij Evening. 
 
 of thy Redeemer's ^race conveyed to thee in 
 his holy supper. Hope, peace, and consola- 
 tion, shall flow upon thy spirit. The immortal 
 VIATICUM, transfusing divine energy, shall 
 support thee through the darkest shadows of 
 the vale of death. Under the guidance of the 
 Almighty Captain of thy salvation, mounting 
 the everlasting hills, thou shalt reach the city 
 of the living God. In the glorious temple of 
 the celestial Zion, those who have been re- 
 deemed by the blood of the Lamb, shall 
 " serve God day and night; they shall hunger 
 no more, nor thirst any more, neither shall 
 the sun light upon them, nor any heat. For 
 the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne 
 shall feed them, and shall lead them unto 
 living fjuntiiius of water, and God shall wipe 
 away all tears from their eyes." 
 
 Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, 
 be unto thee, O holy Jesus. Eternal Son of 
 the Father, who, as our divine Prophet, dost 
 instruct and guide us ; who, as our gracious 
 High Priest, dost intercede for us, and bless 
 us ; who, as our Almighty King, dost redeem 
 ns from the bondage of sin and J^atan, and 
 e.xalt us, victorious over death and the grave, 
 to the immortal glories of thy throne. 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty God, who hast displayed thine iur 
 fmitt wisdoHi and goodnr-?s, in the covenant of 
 mercy which thou hast offered to fallen man ; open 
 
Thursday Evening, 125 
 
 mine understanding to discern the excellence and 
 glory of this wonderful dispensation of grace; and 
 may my heart be impressed with the emotions of 
 reverence, gratitude, and love. With deep and 
 grateful humility I adore thee. Almighty Father, 
 that thou hast appointed, as the Mediator of this 
 gracious covenant, thy eternal and only-begottea 
 Son, " the brightness of thy glory, and the express 
 image of thy person." I adore thee, that the Re- 
 deemer who is to restore fallen man to thy favour, 
 possesses those divine powers and glories which 
 render him at once the object of holy adoration 
 and worship, and of lively gratitude, confidence, 
 and love. Glory be unto thee, O God, for thy 
 unspeakable mercy and grace in Jesus Christ, who, 
 as God, \s7nighty to save — as man, istonchedtvith 
 a fcelbig for my infirmities, O may I humbly 
 ajid thankfully commit the salvation of my soul to 
 that blessed Jesus, whom thou hast " anointed with 
 the Holy Ghost and with power ;" whom thou 
 liast " set forth to be a propitiation for the sins of 
 the world;" whom thou hast exalted to be " a 
 Priiice and a Saviour," to redeem guilty and 
 perishing man. In all his divine, glorious, and 
 consoling offices, nray my understanding clearly 
 and fully discern him — my soul submissivelv and 
 triumphantly embrace him. 
 
 As the eternal Son ofthn Father^ may I bow 
 before him with reverence^ and homage —may I as- 
 cribe unto him glory and dominion — may I magnify 
 the divine fulness of his mercy, and the almighty 
 energies of his grace — may I evermore triumph- 
 antly rejoice in the certaintv, the all-sufficiency, 
 the everlasting glories of liis salvation. 
 
 Grant, O God, that embracing by faith the Sa- 
 L2 
 
126 Thursday Evening, 
 
 viour as my divine Prophet and Instructor^ I may 
 evermore revere tiie glorious lustre which sur- 
 rounds him — may implicitly receive his illustrious 
 revelations as the only standard of truth and duty — 
 may study, with devout admiration and gratitude, 
 his hallowed doctrines and precepts — and with 
 humble fidelity and zeal seek to bring all the 
 powers of my soul into obedience to the instruction 
 of this divine Teacher whom thou hast sent. 
 
 As my gracious and compassionate Priest and 
 Intercessor^ may I gratefully revere and celebrate 
 his mercy and grace — may I apply to his precious 
 blood for pardon and peace — through his media- 
 tion and intercession alone, may 1 seek an access 
 to the throne of thy mercy. 
 
 As my Almighty King^ may I evermore adore 
 his eternal glory, his invincible power — may I hum- 
 bly submit to the sceptre of his righteous dominion 
 — may I sacredly observe his holy decrees and 
 laws, threats and promises — on his omnipotent arm 
 may 1 ever place my supreme reliance for victory 
 over my spiritual foes, for redemption from death 
 and the grave. 
 
 And, oh! thou holy Jesus, eternal Son of the 
 Father, have mercy upon me. *' Thou who only 
 art holy, who only art the Lord, who only art most 
 high in the glory of God the Father, grant me thy 
 peace." 
 
 Divine Prophet of the Highest, illumine mine 
 understanding with celestial truth ; instruct me in 
 the knowledge and love of the Father; guide me 
 in the way of righteousness and peace. 
 
 Gracious and prevailing Priest and Intercessor, 
 sprinKk my guilty soul with the blood of the atone- 
 ment ; and present it pure and spotless before the 
 
Thursday Evejiirig, 127 
 
 Father. " By thine unknown and dreadful ago- 
 nies," by the all-sufficiency of tiiy atonement, by 
 the mighty power of thy death, by all that thou 
 hast done and all that thou hast suffered, intercede 
 for me and bless me, most compassionate Je^us. 
 
 O thou Almighty King, to whom the Father 
 hath given all power in heaven and in earth, 
 stretch out thy omnipotent arm and save me; 
 subdue every thought, desire, and passion that 
 riseth in rebellion against thee ; purify my heart 
 by the mighty power of thy grace ; " guide and 
 govern both my soul atid body in the ways of thy 
 law, and in the w.^rks of thy commandment-, ;" in 
 every difficulty and trial, be thou my Almigiity 
 Helper and Defender ; over all my spiritual ene- 
 mies enable me to rise triumphant ; and finally, O 
 thou omnipotent Saviour, exalt me, sanctified by 
 thy grace, and redeemed by thy power, to the 
 immortal seats of bliss which thou hast prepared 
 for thy people. 
 
 Blessed be thy name, O thou most high God, 
 that in Jesus the Mediator thou hast engaged, for 
 my salvation, omnipotent power and infinite love. 
 Blessed be thy name, that thou dost invite me to 
 that sacred banquet, where the illuminating i^^uid- 
 ance of Jesus the divine Prophet, the all-sufficient 
 atonement of Jesus the merciful Hi^jh Priest, the 
 almighty power of Jesus the glorious King, are 
 provided for the instruction, comfort, and salvatif)n 
 of the humble and penitenn Earnestly imploring 
 thy guidance, confiding in thy mercy, and dedicat- 
 ing myself to thy service, may I repair to thy akar, 
 and there experience that thou art as infi^ine in 
 compassion mk mi(jhty in power, through Jesus 
 Christ my Lord and Redeemer. Ametu 
 
128 Friday Morning. 
 
 FRIDAY MOMXIJTG. 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 Thankful remembrance of Christ's Death. 
 
 The devout communicant is called to pre- 
 pare for participating in the Lord's Supper, 
 by cherishing a tha7ikful renie?nbrance of the 
 death of Christ. This sacred ordinance is, 
 indeed, powerfully calculated to impress on 
 the mind the most lively idea of the sufferings 
 of the Redeemer. The period of its institu- 
 tion carries us back to that dark hour, when 
 the blessed Jesus, whose life had exhibited 
 one continued course of beneficence, in the 
 near prospect of an ignominious death, was 
 bestowing on the beloved companions of his 
 sufferings, his mournful blessing, and laying 
 upon them the injunctions of his dying hjve. 
 It brings to our view, in all its direful horrors, 
 and in all its affecting glory, the cross; on 
 which, as on an altar, the Saviour was con- 
 sumed by the fires of divine justice ; and on 
 which he poured out his life a sacrifice tor 
 the sins of the world. This holy ordinance 
 presents to the view of faith, under forcible 
 symbols, the victim again bound and ofiered 
 on the altar. Tlie bread broken forcibly re- 
 calls to our recollection the sacred body of 
 the Saviour, which w;is bruised for our ini- 
 qififies by the arm of divine wrath. And the 
 WitfC which is pressed from the graf)e, is a 
 lively emblem of that precious blood which 
 
Friday Morning, 129 
 
 the burden of our sins forced from the tor- 
 tured body of the Saviour of the world. O 
 my soul, discern, through these humble but 
 affecting emblems, thy crucified Lord ; and, 
 penetrated with the view of his awful agonies, 
 render him the homage of ardent gratitude 
 and love. 
 
 The thankful remembrance which thou arc 
 called to cherish of the death of thy Redeemer, 
 is not merely a glow of sympathy and sorrow 
 which the view of distress is calculated to 
 excite in every heart. Thou art to contem- 
 plate the sufferings of Christ, not as the suf- 
 ferings of a common man, but as the suffer- 
 ings of a divine Instructor, come to proclaim 
 the most important truths to the world, to 
 enforce and seal them by his sufferings and 
 death ; and as the sufferings of a divine Re- 
 deemer who atoned for our sins, and purchas- 
 ed, by his blood, our everlasting redemption, 
 
 Consider the sufferings of Christ as a strik- 
 ing seal to the truth of his religion. 
 
 Consider his sufferings and death as the 
 all-sufficient expiation for the sins of man. 
 
 Finally, consider them as powerfully enforc- 
 ing the spirit of meekness, patience, and love, 
 the principal characteristics of his disciples. 
 
 This view of the sufferino^s of Christ will 
 tend to excite the emotions of devout admira-* 
 tion, faith, gratitude, and love ; and it will 
 also tend to impress on the heart the most 
 im[jortant instruction, the most grateful con- 
 solation. 
 
130 Friday Morning. 
 
 Consider the sufferings and death of Christ 
 as a striking seal to the religion which he 
 proclaimed. 
 
 In the humble and suffering Saviour, whom 
 the altar sets forth, we behold displayed mag- 
 nanimity, condescension, disinterested love, 
 w^hich call for our devout and grateful admira- 
 tion, and which tend to excite our full confi- 
 dence in the divine Instructor, who, by these 
 sufferings, sealed the truth of his mission. 
 He was ushered into the world, not amidst 
 the splendour of courts and palaces, but 
 amidst the inclemencies and the degradation 
 of a mano^er. He chose for his kindred in 
 the flesh, not the noble, the rich, and the 
 mighty, but the humble, the obscure, the 
 despised. He selected for the companions 
 of his private hours, for the soothers of his 
 cares and sorrows, for the partakers of his 
 labours and instructions, not the learned, the 
 refined, and the wealthy, but fisiiermen, hum- 
 ble, illiterate, and contemned. He courted 
 not the cheering company of the gay and the 
 opulent, but the society of the children of 
 poverty, of ignorance and affliction. The 
 Redeemer did not surround himself witli the 
 trappings of w^ealth and power, he did not 
 court tiie seducing ease of elevated stations, 
 and shuii the walks of calamity and distress. 
 Ah ! revilings, contempt, insult, repaid all the 
 prodigies of love whicii distinguished his be- 
 nefictnt life. At the unrighteous judgment- 
 seat of Pilate, this innocent martvr was ar- 
 
Friday Morn ing. 131 
 
 raigned. All the insults and tortures which 
 ingenious malice could suggest, were heaped 
 upon that bosom which beat only with ardent 
 love to mankind. On Calvary's mount that 
 innocent blood was poured forth, which plead- 
 ed for mercy on the barbarous hands that 
 shed it. O my soul, impotent is language to 
 do even feeble justice to the magnanimity, 
 the love, of the holy Jesus. His divifie dignity 
 and glory rendered still more astonishing and 
 profound his mercy. The uncreated image 
 of the Father's glory \vas born the child of 
 poverty and wretchedness. He, who, in hea- 
 ven, received the adoration of the angelic host, 
 placed himself among the ignorant and pro- 
 fligate herd of publicans and sinners. He, 
 who held in his hand the thunders of Omni- 
 potence, calmly submitted to be the sport of 
 an infuriate rabble. He, whose head divine 
 lustre surrounded, was crowned with thorns, 
 and mocked with the acclamations of his im- 
 placable enemies. The Lord of life and 
 glory, he who created and sustains the worlds, 
 sunk in the agonies of death, an ignominious 
 victim on the cross. The bitter sufferings 
 which, mitigated and cheered by no friendly 
 sympathy, pursued him, afford the strongest 
 proof that no sinister motives of pride, of 
 interest or ambition, could have swayed his 
 breast. The exalted messages of salvation 
 which he proclaimed, the pure and heavenly 
 precepts which he inculcated, the works of 
 mercy which he performed, did not procure 
 
132 F>vlay Morning. 
 
 for him affection, gratitude, and love; they 
 did not receive the applauses and honours by 
 which the benefactors of mankind are re- 
 warded. Ah ! contumely, insult, and death, 
 crowned his benevolent exertions. O my soul, 
 thy Saviour exhibited, in his suffering life, 
 the strongest proof of disinterested zeal, of 
 magnanimous virtue. Persevering in his work 
 of love, though contempt and suffering met 
 him at every step ; though he foresaw that 
 the hatred of his enemies would at length 
 prevail in his destruction ; and that, amidst 
 their bitter taunts and revilings, he should 
 sustain an ignominious death — thy Redeemer 
 claims thy highest admiration and confidence* 
 Zeal thus self-denying and disinterested, in 
 the pursuit of the noblest objects, should 
 silence every ungenerous suspicion. Con- 
 templating the div'.ne fortitude and resolution 
 with which the Saviour sealed in death the 
 truth of the doctrines which, through his suf- 
 fering life, he had inculcated, thou shouldest 
 acknowledge, in the holy fervours of a faith 
 like that which animated the Centurion be- 
 holding at the cross the magnanimity and 
 patience of the crucified Redeemer — "Truly 
 this was the Son of God." 
 
 At the altar, therefore, O my soul, thou art 
 called to commemorate the sufferings and 
 death of a divine Teacher, whose magnani- 
 mity, fortitude, and patience, while they claim 
 thy fervent love, gratitude, and homage, are 
 powerfully calculated to confirm and exalt 
 
Fridaij Morning. 133 
 
 the ardours of thy faith. Contemplate the 
 gross ignorance of all the interesting truths 
 and duties connected with the spiritual wel- 
 fare, hopes, and destination of man, which en- 
 veloped the world before this divine Teacher 
 rose in the splendour of celestial truth and 
 knowledge. Contemplate the impious super- 
 stition, the cruel rites, the debasing crimes, 
 vvhich overspread the world before this Son 
 of Righteousness, by the lustre of his beams, 
 chased before him the clouds of idolatry, 
 error, and vice. Then turn thy view to the 
 glorious revelation which Christ promulgated, 
 to the splendid lustre which it sheds on all 
 the duties and all the hopes of man, on every 
 religious and moral truth, which can awaken 
 his desires or his fears, which can conduce 
 to his present or eternal welfare. In the 
 revelation of Jesus Christ, the ardent desires 
 of the soul, seeking the path to duty and bliss 
 which a blind and erring reason in vain en- 
 deavoured to discover, are fully gratified — the 
 way is tracked out, with luminous lustre, to 
 the throne of God — light and glory burst from 
 the mansions of the tomb. O my soul, adore 
 with lively gratitude and faith the divine 
 Teacher who hath sealed to thee these glori- 
 ous truths and hopes by the testimony of his 
 blood. While the tears of lively sympathy 
 and sorrow are shed over the sacred memo- 
 rials, which recall to thy remembrance the un- 
 paralleled sufferings of thy blessed Lord, let 
 
 the altar be also the hallowed throne where 
 
 M 
 
134 Friday Morning, 
 
 thou dost present the grateful vows of obedi- 
 ence to that divine Teacher who, from the 
 terrors and agonies of the cross, sends forth 
 light, life, and immortality to the world. 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 O MOST merciful God, who hast given us thv 
 only-begotten Son to be our divine guide and 
 teacher, to lead us from the darkness of ignorance 
 and error into the light of thy truth; grant that the 
 contemplation of his patience, his resolution, his 
 magnanimity and fortitude under the various suf- 
 ferings which assailed him, while it awakens my 
 lively gratitude, may serve to cherish and confirm 
 my fiiith in his glorious doctrines. May the ardent, 
 the disinterested, the persevering zeal, which the 
 Saviour displayed in encountering the malicious 
 calumny and persecution with which his relentless 
 enemies repaid him for his benevolent instructions, 
 excite at once my admiration, my gratitude, and 
 steadfast confidence. I bless thee, most holy 
 Jesus, that thou wast not deterred from the prose- 
 cution ol' thy divine w ork of enlightening and re- 
 storing fallen man, by the sufiTerings and persecu- 
 tions that assailed thee — by the prospect of the 
 ignominious death whieh was to close thy infinite 
 labour of love. I bless thee, most holy Jesus, that 
 by the shedding of thy precious blood in attestation 
 of the glorious truths thou didst promulgate, thou 
 hast afforded the highest evidence of thy sincerity, 
 thy disinterested benevolence and zeal. O may I 
 evermore love and serve thee as a divine and be- 
 
Friday Morning. 135 
 
 ncficent teacher, who, in proclaiming and estab- 
 lisliing the glorious revelation of mercy and grace, 
 consulted only our peace, our welfl^re, our instruc- 
 tion, and everlasting consolation ; and generously 
 sacrificed thy own ease, comfort, happiness, and 
 life. O may the commemoration of thy sufterings 
 and death, in thy holy supper, recall to my awak- 
 ened feelings the infinite condescensions of thy 
 love, the painful sacrifices, the awful conflicts, 
 which thou didst sustain in the establishment of 
 that dispensation of grace, by which thou hast 
 shed the rays of immortal truth and glory on a 
 blind and perishing world. Receiving, with hum- 
 ble gratitude and faith, the memorial of thy love, 
 may I resolutely and fervently devote myself to 
 thy service. Evermore following the light of thy 
 divine instructions, and regulating my life by thy 
 celestial doctrines and precepts, may I thus evi- 
 dence the sincerity of my gratitude, my faith, and 
 love ; and seek, in some measure, to make amends 
 to thee for die contumely, scorn, and suffering, 
 with which, while on earth, thy benevolent labours 
 were repaid. O thou eternal light of the world, 
 " send forth thy light and truth. Let them lead 
 me, let them bring me to thy holy hill — to God, 
 my exceeding joy," to the blissful fruition of the 
 excellency and glory of the Father, the Son, and 
 the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen, 
 
I'SS- Friday Evening. 
 
 FRIDAY EVENING. 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 'I'Lankful remeralrante of the Death of Chi-ist — Charity •with i«ll Mea/ 
 
 Thou hast been gratefully contemplating, 
 (!) my soul, the sufferings and death of Christ, 
 as affording affecting and powerful evidence 
 of the divinity of his mission and the truth of 
 his doctrine. 
 
 Turn now thy view to the sufferings and 
 death of Christ as an all-sitfficient expiatiort 
 and atonement for sin. 
 
 The sufferings of Christ, considered as the 
 infinite price of the ransom of a guilty world, 
 rise to the highest importance, and claim 
 our profound adoration and love. From the 
 gloom of suffering and sorrow, the virtues of 
 magnanimity, patience, and fortitude, shine 
 forth with the most affecting lustre. Con- 
 trasted with the horrors of that hour when, 
 in the agonies of death, aggravated by every 
 painful circumstance of reproach, insult, and 
 ignominy, our divine Instructor closed his 
 suffering life; how resplendent and endearing 
 appear the mild and submissive patience, the 
 ardent and benignant love which he displayed. 
 Burstinix from the cloud of sufferini^ which 
 envelops the cross, the holy Jesus appears 
 clothed with the radiance of divine glory, and 
 with irresistible authority proclaims to the 
 world the everlasting dispensation of grace, 
 
Friday Evening, 137 
 
 and imposes the immutable rules of truth 
 and duty. 
 
 But when, with the authority of a divine 
 Instructor^ we connect the mercy and power 
 of an almighty Redeemer, the sufferings and 
 death of Christ, which before inspired admi- 
 ration, gratitude, and confidence, will pene- 
 trate us with emotions of the most profound 
 adoration, and will excite the liveliest fervours 
 of love, the most ardent triumphs of faith. A 
 Redeemer, who, in sustaining the penalties of 
 sin, rescues us from its awful condemnation; 
 who, in sinking under the stroke of death, 
 breaks the sceptre of the relentless tyrant ; 
 who, in yielding for a short period to the do- 
 minion of the prince and powers of darkness, 
 bursts the chains which they had cast on 
 guilty man ; a Redeemer, who, from the cross 
 which was the ignominious scene of the tem- 
 porary triumphs of his foes, displays the ban- 
 ners of victory, and "proclaims liberty to the 
 captives, and the opening of the prison to 
 them that were bound ;" a Redeemer, who 
 thus turns ignominy, suffering, and death, into 
 triiiiiiph, victory, and glory, presents a display 
 of divine power, which, while it transcends 
 our feeble comprehensions, should excite tne 
 fervours of adoration and love. 
 
 Contemplate then, O my soul, the suffer- 
 ings of Christ, as the price of thy redemption. 
 View thyself as fallen from that rectitude ;ind 
 glory which distinguished thy primeval state, 
 into the abyss of blindness, depravity, and 
 M 2 
 
138 Friday Evening, 
 
 guilt. Regard thyself as having forfeited the 
 favour of that merciful Being whose favour 
 is the only source of bliss, as obnoxious to 
 the indignation of that Almighty Sovereign, 
 whose frown awakens misery and despair. 
 Ah ! when thou art thus abased by the con- 
 viction of thy guilt and wretchedness, thou 
 wilt be able to estimate the full value of those 
 unparalleled sufferings by which the Son of 
 God achieved thy rescue. Yes, *' while we 
 were yet sinners," in a state of rebellion 
 against the Supreme Majesty of Heaven, of 
 perverse contempt of the goodness of our 
 Almighty Benefactor — while our crimes and 
 impiety called for the arm of divine justice 
 to crusli us, the infinite love of God prompted 
 the wonderful purpose of our redemption ; 
 and *' Christ," the eternal Son, clothed with 
 our nature, " died for us." The poverty, the 
 scorn, the persecution, the ignominy, the 
 agonies of the cross which overwhelmed him, 
 were the punishments due to our sins — they 
 were the price of our redemption. Blessed 
 Jesus, we transgressed the righteous laws of 
 our God, and thoUj innocent and guiltless, 
 didst sustain the penalties due to our crimes. 
 We incurred the sentence of divine justice, 
 and thoUy the immaculate Lamb, didst sink 
 under its avenging curse. We were enthralled 
 by the chains of the prince of darkness; thou 
 didst sustain the shock of his fiery assaults, 
 to rescue us from his dominion. We were 
 bowed down, the captives of death, the tyrant 
 
Friday Evening. 139 
 
 of our race ; thou didst overcome death, and 
 open the gate of everlasting life. 
 
 Oh ! profound mystery of love, that calls 
 for the deepest adoration, for unceasing and 
 lively gratitude! O my soul, is it possible 
 for thee to contemplate, without emotion, 
 the agonizing sufferings which the Redeemer 
 sustained, in effecting the glorious purpose 
 of his love — thy redemption from guilt, and 
 misery, and death I The heir of guilt and 
 wretchedness — shall not the sentiments of 
 holy gratitude be excited to the gracious 
 Redeemer, who, by offering himself the victim 
 to divine justice, expiates thy guilt, and con- 
 soles thee with the offers of mercy and par- 
 don \ Bound by the chains of sin and death, 
 wilt thou not celebrate, in triumphant strains, 
 the grace of tiiat Almighty Conqueror, who, 
 by the shedding of his blood, hath purchased 
 thy redemption from this degrading bondage I 
 Doomed, through transgression, to sustain the 
 opposing cares, the painful changes of this 
 vale of sorrow, and destitute of the consola- 
 tory assurance that, beyond the mansions of 
 the grave, a day of rest and peace shall dawn 
 upon thee — Oh ! shall not the jubilee of praise 
 be directed to that divine Saviour, who, hav- 
 ing passed through the valley of the shadow 
 of death, hath chased from it the spectres 
 that hold in it their reign, and opened to thee 
 a passage to immortal glory 1 
 
 That thankful remembrance of the death of 
 Christ, with which it is thy duty always to 
 
140 Friday Evening. 
 
 icommemorate his love in the holy supper, 
 will be most strongly cherished by frequently 
 considering the state of condemnation and 
 misery from which the Saviour, by his death, 
 redeemed thee; and the exalted blessings 
 which, through his mediation, are conferred 
 upon thee. Accustomed ever to consider the 
 cross of Christ as the fountain whence flow 
 all thy spiritual hopes and consolations, it 
 will be endeared to thee as the pledge of thy 
 salvation ; and at the altar thou wilt fix the 
 eye of grateful faith on the Lamb of God, 
 who, by the sufferings and death there com- 
 memorated, hath taken away the sin of the 
 uorlcL 
 
 Let the awful exhibition of divine justice 
 in that sacrifice which, under lively symbols, 
 is set forth at the altar, impress thee, O my 
 soul, with a sense of the inflexible indignation 
 of God against the impenitent transgressors 
 of his laws. If God witliheM not the sword 
 of his justice, though it penetrated the bosom 
 of his beloved Son, clothed, in the person of 
 man, with the sins of the world, will he spare 
 the impenitent sinner who defies the awful 
 display of justice, and contemns the affecting 
 manifestation of divine mercy which the cross 
 affords? 
 
 But if thou art deeply penitent for thy 
 offences, and sincerely disposed to renounce 
 and forsake them, approach th(^ altar; and 
 while thou dost there contemplate the lively 
 memorials of the sufferings and death of thy 
 
Friday Evening, 14i 
 
 Lord, thankfully celebrate the triumphs of his 
 cross by whicti thy redemption was effected. 
 From the cross, where an all-sufficient victim 
 satisfies the claims of divine justice, beams 
 that mercy which diffuses joy through the 
 troubled spirit. There flows that precious 
 blood which will wash away the stains of sin. 
 In the agonies of the Lord of life, the exac- 
 tions of divine justice are fulfilled to tlie 
 uttermost. The righteous Judge of heaven 
 and earth, beholding the authority of his laws, 
 which had been violated, fully vindicated, ex- 
 tends the sceptre of mercy to the penitent 
 oflfender. Oh I then, my soul, let the altar 
 which conveys to thee the merits and bless- 
 ings of the cross, ever witness thy humble 
 penitence, thy grateful recollection of that 
 ignominious death, which was the price of 
 thy salvation. And when the sacred dements, 
 received by lively faith, convey to thee the 
 strengthening virtue of the body and blood 
 of Christ, let the ardent expressions of grati- 
 tude ascend to that God who, on the throne 
 of mercy, is reconciling the world unto him- 
 self — to that immaculate Lamb who was slain 
 and offered an all-sufficient victim, to redeem 
 thee hij his Mood, 
 
 The grateiul contemplation of the suffer- 
 ings and death of Christ should also impress 
 on thee that spirit of hiimititi/, patience, and 
 universal charity, which the Saviour emi- 
 nently displayed, and which are the charaa- 
 teristics of his true disciples, 
 
142 Friday Evening, 
 
 The sufferings of Christ afford a brilliant 
 attestation of the truth of his doctrines. They 
 present a still higher claim to our gratitude, 
 and become still more endeared to our grate- 
 ful remembrance, by their infinite efficacy as 
 an all-syfficient expiation of our sins and 
 guilt. And they further demand our grateful 
 recollection, as impressing upon us, in the 
 most powerful and affecting manner, the great 
 and important virtues which will assimilate 
 us to our divine Master — hiunility, patience, 
 and universal lore. 
 
 In order to behold a striking exhibition of 
 the meek and lowly spirit of the Christian 
 calling ; in order to correct those false ideas 
 of religion, so grateful to corrupt nature, and 
 tiierefore so generally entertained, which re- 
 present its sacred claims as entirely compati- 
 ble wdth the gratification of the aspiring, the 
 proud, and the revengeful passions of the 
 heart ; in order to contemplate a noble and 
 affecting display of uniform resignation, per- 
 fect patience, and exalted love, under afflic- 
 tions the most severe, injuries the most poig- 
 nant, and persecutions the most implacable — 
 we must contemplate the character of the 
 blessed Jesus, and follow him through his 
 suffering life. " He grew up as a tender plant 
 and as a root out of the dry ground. He had 
 no form or comeliness ; and when we saw 
 him, there was no beauty that we should de- 
 sire him. He was despised and rejected of 
 men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with 
 
Friday Evening. 14S 
 
 grief. He was oppressed and he was afflict- 
 ed, yet he opened not his mouth. He was 
 led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep 
 before her shearers is dumb, so he opened 
 not his mouth. When he was reviled, he 
 reviled not again. When he suffered, he 
 threatened nt)t." Patient and holy Lamb of 
 God ! bitter anguish and misery penetrated 
 thy innocent bosom; and shall we, whose 
 aggravated sins and guilt loudly demand suf- 
 fering and punishment, expect to pass along 
 the path of pleasure and indulgence 1 Scorn 
 and persecution, pouring their fires on thy 
 holy head, awakened only thy blessings and 
 thy prayers ; and shall we, whom the con- 
 sciousness of imperfection and guilt should 
 cover with deep humility, cherish a resentful 
 and implacable temper! Sustaining the ac- 
 cumulated sins of a guilty world, thy innocent 
 spirit was pressed down by the arm of divine 
 justice — thou wast stretched on the rack of 
 divine wrath until the agony of thy soul burst 
 forth in great drops of blood. Ah ! when 
 thou didst thus exhaust the dregs of that cup 
 of trembling which the indignation of heaven 
 had prepared as the punishment of our guiltc 
 shall we murmur at those slight but salutary 
 afflictions which are mercifully designed to 
 promote our eternal health and perfection] 
 
 O my soul, thy patient, meek, and humble 
 Redeemer h f l thee an example that thou 
 shouldest follow his steps. The virtues (tf Am- 
 miiity, patience, and universal love, he power- 
 
144 Friday Evening. 
 
 fully enforced by his own Iiumble, suftering^ 
 and benevolent life. Worthy of thy liveliest 
 gratitude is the infinite condescension of thy 
 blessed Lord, who, to animate thy obedience^ 
 has performed every precept which he en- 
 joins, has sustained sacrifices and sufl?erings 
 infinitely greater than those to which thou 
 art called. Behold then exhibited in his life 
 the most glorious model of duty, and the most 
 animating incentives to cherish those lowly, 
 patient, and benevolent virtues which adorned 
 the Saviour's character. Distinguished is the 
 privilege of the disciples of Christ, that they 
 are called to walk in that path of suflfering 
 which their divine Redeemer trod before 
 them. Honourable those sorrows which con- 
 form the believer to the image of his Lord, 
 and prepare him for the fruition of those 
 glories to which, as the reward of his patience^ 
 the Saviour is exalted. Murmur not, O my 
 soul, under that cross with which thy Re- 
 deemer did patiently ascend the steep of 
 Calvary. The path of suffering which thy 
 Saviour tracked out thou must patiently fol- 
 low, if thou wilt attain the celestial glories 
 on which he has entered. It is the declara- 
 tion which his own lips proclaimed, and which 
 his suffering life has sealed : " If any man will 
 be my disciple, let him deny himself, and take 
 up his cross and follow me. Through much 
 tribulation ye must enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven." Animated by his glorious example^ 
 and cheered by the heavenly voice which* 
 
Friday Evening, 145 
 
 from the throne of eternal power, he directs 
 to thee, '* be of good cheer, 1 have overcome 
 the world" — resolve to preserve thy allegiance 
 to him amidst the most furious assaults of 
 temptation — resolve to glorify his mercy and 
 power in the most bitter agonies of suffering 
 and death. At the altar, where the atfecting 
 representation of the sorrows of thy Lord 
 forcibly reminds thee that those who would 
 resemble him in the glories of his resurrec- 
 tion, must be conformed to him in the like- 
 ness of his sufferings and death, thankfully 
 commemorate the animating incentives to 
 patience and resignation which his blessed 
 life affords — and draw from the fountains of 
 his grace the succours which will exalt thee 
 triumphant over the assaults of temptation 
 and sorrow. 
 
 The suffering life of the Redeemer is cal- 
 culated to impress on thee, O my soul, the 
 lowly, the patient, and benevolent virtues 
 which constitute the porfection of thy nauire, 
 which are productive of the highest joys and 
 consolations, and which are indispeuvsable 
 qualifications for future blessedness. With 
 the liveliest gratitude, therefore, should tiiuse 
 sufferings be remembered, which are fraught 
 with instruction so beneficial and exalted. 
 
 There is no virtue, however, which the 
 contemplation of the sufferings and death of 
 Christ more strongly inculcated than chrrity 
 or universal love. Love is the soul ol his 
 religion; it is the animating spring of every 
 N 
 
146 Friday Evenings 
 
 other fifrace; the eternal centre to which they 
 all tend, and in which they will all finally 
 become absorbed. This virtue, the badge of 
 the true nisciples of Chriist, attaches the soul 
 to God; die source of every excellence, the 
 infinite Aill^or of every mercy — in Christ 
 Jesus, the Gtd of everlasting compassion and 
 grace. It iiiS|;ires the soul with the most 
 lively affecrion for man, who bears the image 
 of that Divine Being whom she adores — who 
 shares in the common wants and sorrows that 
 oppress her — who is redeemed by the blood 
 of the same Saviour, and sanctified by the 
 same Almighty Spirit — and who looks for- 
 ward to the same immortal destiny. Chris- 
 tians, animated by the divine principle of love, 
 will uniformly endeavour " to keep the unity 
 of the Spirit in the bond of peace" — to pre- 
 serve the harmony and order of that holy 
 Church, through which tlie streams of mercy 
 and grace from the divine Redeemer are 
 conveyed to them, and by which they are to 
 be trained for the immortal celebration of the 
 praises of their God in the Church Triump'i- 
 ant. Regarding one another as partakers of 
 these divine and celestial privileges, as des- 
 tined for the same transcendent state of per- 
 fection and bliss, they will feel themselves 
 united by the most affecting and powerful 
 ties. Yes — restinj.^ for pardon on the same 
 precious blood ; quickenerl and sanctified by 
 ihc same A!mi:ihty Spirit; prepared fur the 
 inheritance of glory by the same course of 
 
Friday Evening. 147 
 
 suffering and trial ; fellow pilgrims through 
 the same vale of tears to a blissful and eternal 
 rest — united thus in the participation of the 
 same wants and sorrows, in the possession of 
 the same divine privileges, in the fruition of 
 the same glorious promises, Christians should 
 also be united by the holy sentiments of ten- 
 derness and kindness. The spirit of divine 
 love, shedding through their hearts its quick- 
 ening power, should excite them to endeavour 
 to remove or alleviate, by every act of sym- 
 pathy and affection, the obstacles and aiiiic- 
 tions that assail them in their progress — to 
 enliven their w^earisome pilgrimage, by cele- 
 brating, in holy concord, the glories of that 
 heavenly city towards which they are advanc- 
 ing. Destined to unite in strains of everlast- 
 ing love before the throne of the Eternal, 
 their spirits should be attuned on earth to the 
 harmonious celebration of the praises of their 
 God. Oh ! what an exalted exhibition of joy 
 and peace would the world present, did this 
 spirit of divine love pervade the souls of 
 Ciiristians ! This vale of tears and misery, 
 where discord, suspicion, envy, and revenge, 
 blast the ^{i\Y joys which lie scattered along 
 the path of life, would be converted into a 
 paradise of love and peace, fair and exalted 
 as that in which man enjoyed the presence of 
 his Maker. 
 
 This spirit o^ universal char itij, so sublime 
 and noble in its origin and nature, so bene- 
 ficial and exalted in its effects, is enjoined on 
 
148 Friday Evefiing, 
 
 thee, O my soul, by the most powerful and 
 affecting considerations; and it is an indis- 
 pensable qualification for that holy supper, 
 where Christians profess themselves to be 
 connected by the holy ties of a Redeemer's 
 merits and blood. From the altar, the tender 
 voice of the Saviour implores his followers, 
 by that precious blood which is their common 
 and supreme affiance, by that quickening 
 spirit of love and consolation which he sheds 
 through their hearts, by those blissful and 
 immortal hopes which he hath purchased for 
 them all, by that infinite and unutterable love 
 which, through his suffering life and agonizing 
 death, he displayed for them, he implores 
 them to " love one another." " This is my 
 commandment, that ye love one another." 
 Blessed Jesus! who shrunk from no sufferings 
 to achieve our redemption, we owe thee the 
 supreme devotion of our souls, which thou 
 hast purchased. And didst thou require, as 
 the pledge of our gratitude, the renunciation 
 of our ease and enjoyment, cheerfully should 
 the inadequate tribute be rendered. Base 
 then, and highly criminal the apathy which 
 would lead us to disobey thy dying injunction, 
 to cherish the virtue of charity and love, the 
 ornament of our nature, the source of the 
 purest joys. 
 
 Advance then to the altar, O my soul, 
 cherishing the emotions of livelif benevolence 
 for all mankind. Embrace in thy benevolent 
 regard the whole human race. Resolve to 
 
Friday Evening. 149 
 
 promote by ardent and persevering exertion 
 the welfare of tliy fellow men. The disciple 
 of a Redeemer who went about doing good, 
 let no opportunity be omitted of imitating thy 
 blessed Lord in acts of mercy. Following 
 the steps of thy compassionate Master, visit 
 the abodes of poverty and wretchedness; 
 and while thy beneficence pours gladness into 
 the hearts of the children of sorrow, direct 
 their trust and hope to that gracious Provi- 
 dence, '^without whose knowledge not even 
 a sparrow falleth to the ground'' — direct their 
 desires to those abodes of undecaying peace, 
 *' where the wicked cease from troubling, and 
 where the weary are at rest." The blessing 
 of those who were ready to perish shall de- 
 scend upon thee. Animated by that spirit 
 of divine love which assimilate.^ thee to thy 
 blessed Redeemer, he will acknowledge thee, 
 at ids holy supper, as an acceptable guest. 
 And when from the fountain of grace and 
 mercy opened on the altar, the streams of 
 peace and joy are dispensed to thee, let thy 
 earnest supplications be directed to heaven, 
 that the bread of life may diffuse its efficacy 
 throughout the earth ; that all the guilty sons 
 of men may have access to that blood, which 
 washes av/tiy the stains of sin. 
 
 Advance to the altar, animated uith pecu- 
 liar afi'ection for those who, as Christians, 
 are connected with thee by the endearing ties 
 of the Redeemer' s merits and grace. 
 
 For those who are of the " household of 
 
 N2 
 
150 Friday Evening, 
 
 faith," who, admitted into the Christian cove- 
 nant, place their hopes of salvation on the 
 merits and ^race of that Redeemer who is 
 thy only trust and refuge, the most lively 
 emotions of affection should be cherished. 
 The sincere followers of Christ are connected 
 together by the sacred ties of a Saviour's love, 
 of his almighty grace renewing and animating 
 their souls. These ties are destined to be as 
 exalted and eternal as those celestial exercises 
 which will engage the spirits of the blest, 
 before the throne of God, in the unrieasing 
 strains of adoration and praise. Look upon 
 those then, O my soul, who, united with thee 
 to the Redeemer by a living faith, comme- 
 morate, at the altar, the rich displays of his 
 grace and mercy, as thy destined companions 
 in that celebrntion of redeeming love, which, 
 through eternal ages, will constitute the glory 
 and the bliss of the Church Triumphunt. 
 Oh ! let tlie exalted consideration that the 
 bands of Christian fellowship shall never be 
 dissolved, excite thy wannest affection for 
 those with whom thou art destined to drink 
 ineffable bliss at lh(»se streams which flow 
 for ever in the city of the living God. Let 
 the precious emblems of the Saviour's love, 
 which, with his humble followers, thou dost 
 receive at his holy supper, bind thee to them 
 by the cords of affection, which no ungeneroui 
 selfishness or envy, no unkind suspicions or 
 fesentments shall ever tarnish or dissolve. 
 Over the lively memorial of that infinite 
 
Friday Evening, 151 
 
 gfracc to which thev are indebted for those 
 immortal ho})es which alone cheer the weari- 
 some pilgrimai^e of life, let the members of 
 Christ's mystical body vow to each other 
 tf sacred fellowship and affection — let them re- 
 solve " to put away all bitterness, and wrath, 
 and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, 
 with all malice — and to be kind one to an- 
 other, lender-heiirted, forgiving one another, 
 even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven 
 them." 
 
 And as the perfection and consnmnation 
 of Christian charity, the devout communicant 
 should advance to the altar, heartily disposed 
 to forgive and to love his enemies. 
 
 It was the pressing injuncti'»n of our dying 
 Mfister; it is made the condition of our re- 
 ceiving forsjiveness at the hands of our Al- 
 ini2:hty Judge; it is constituted by our Lord 
 the sacred plea by v^hich we are to supplicate 
 forgiveness from heaven, that we forgive 
 others their trespasses against ns. The for- 
 giveness oi our enemies consists in exercising 
 towards them those benevolent affections 
 which, by the constitution of human nature, 
 and the command of God, we are bourn 1 to 
 exercise towards nil mankind ; in the ready 
 expression of our good will to them; in re- 
 fraining from every act of unkindness or 
 resentment towards them ; and in a cordial 
 desire and disposition to^ffc^et a reconcilintion 
 with ttiem. As it is one of the most difficult 
 virtue;}, so it is une of the tnust noble and ex- 
 
15^ Friday Evening. 
 
 alted — in the hiofhest degree perfective of 
 human nature, and fruitful of the highest joys. 
 It rescues us from those painful anxieties 
 which agitate the breast that is the seat of 
 gloomy revenge. It sheds that delightful ^ 
 tranquillity which is alone the portion of the 
 bosom that is at peace with the world. It 
 animates the soul with the elevated reflection, 
 that in overcoming the passion of revenge, 
 she has gained the most sublime victory. It 
 assimih'Ues man to that gracious and merciful 
 Being, who doeth good to the unthankful and 
 the evil. It advances him into resemblance 
 to that divine Saviour, who, in the ardours of 
 infinite love, supplicated pardon for the ene- 
 mies who hunted him to the cross. The de- 
 vout communicant, whose heart is penetrated 
 with the display of mercy which the cross 
 affords, will bury at the foot of the altar all 
 his enmities, jealousies, and resentments. 
 The blood of his Saviour shed through his 
 heart will extinguish every wrathful passion. 
 Love to God and man, ardent, holy, and con- 
 stant as the fire of the eternal altar at which 
 it is kindled, will alone animate his soul. 
 
 AN ACT OF THANKSGIVING 
 
 HUMILIATION AND SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. 
 
 Praises evermore be iwto thee^ eternal Son 
 of Gody who didst take our tiature upon thee^ and 
 
Friday Evening, 153 
 
 for us didst become obedient unto deaths even the 
 death of the cross. 
 
 That when, by rebellion against our Sovereign 
 God and mercit'ui Fatlier, we had fallen from our 
 state of primeval rectitude and glory, had forfeited 
 all title to the light of God's countenance, and in- 
 curred his indignation and wrath — that when jus- 
 tice urged our excision, and divine holiness de- 
 manded the vindication of a violated law — that 
 when among the host of heaven " there was none 
 to help ;" among the innumerable orders of created 
 beings *' there was none to uphold," none whose 
 " arm could bring salvation" for us — that in this 
 our hopeless state of condemnation and misery, 
 when the mercy of the Almighty Father prompted, 
 thou didst willingly undertake the office of our 
 Redeemer ; 
 
 Praises evermore be unto thee^ eternal Son of' 
 God. 
 
 That thou, who " wast w^ith the Father before 
 the world was," *' the brightness of his glory, and 
 the express image of his person" — thou, whom 
 cherubim and seraphim adored, and to whom the 
 host of heaven bowed submissive — didst conde- 
 scend to vail thy glory in our miserable nature ; 
 
 Praises evermore be unto thee^ eternal Son of 
 God. 
 
 That thou didst relinquish the felicity of the 
 Godhead, to be born in our nature, of an huml)le 
 and obscure family ; to be ushered into the world 
 among the beasts of the stall ; and to sustain the 
 wants and pains of infancy and cnildhofjd — when 
 thou couldst have commanded the homage or the 
 universe, and encirc.ed thyself witli celestial ma- 
 jesty and splendour ; 
 
154 Friday Evening. 
 
 Praises evermore be unto theCy most Holy 
 Jesus, eternal So?i of God, 
 
 That thou, \\'hom angels and archangels counted 
 it their glory to ser\'C, didst thyself become subject 
 to thy parents, rendering them reverence and obe- 
 dience ; and through the whole of thy benevolent 
 life didst become the servant of mankind, in ad- 
 ministering to their necessities ; 
 
 Praises ever?nore be irnto thee, most Holy 
 Jesus, eternal Son oj God. 
 
 That in the prosecution of the benevolent work 
 of our redemption, thou didst sustain want, and 
 suffering, and sorrow; and didst even wander 
 without a place to lay thy head, — when thou wast 
 entided to the eternal throne of universal dominion ; 
 
 Praises evermore be unto thee, ?nost Holy 
 Jesus, eternal Son of God. 
 
 That thou didst encounter shame, indignity, and 
 insult ; didst associate with the refuse of mankind ; 
 and patiently didst submit to the charge of acting 
 in concert with the prince and powers of darkness 
 — when thou couldst have commanded, for thy 
 attendants, the brightest seraphs that minister in 
 the court of heaven ; 
 
 Praises evermore be imto thee, most Holy 
 Jesus, eternal Son of God. 
 
 That in the day of thy humiliation, as a suiFer- 
 ing Saviour, thou didst become '' a man of sor- 
 rows, and acquainted with grief;" that, laden with 
 the sins of a guilty world, thou didst appear " with- 
 out form or comeliness," " thy visage marred more 
 than any man, and thy form more than the sons of 
 men" — that in the garden of Gethser; iine thou 
 didst, friendless and alone, *' tread the wine- press" 
 of thy Fatiier's wrath,, and " drink the dregs of 
 
Fr'vhy Evemn^* 155 
 
 tliat cup of trembling'' which infused direful hor- 
 rors through thy soul, and bathed thy convulsed 
 body in a bloody s\veat; 
 
 Praises evermore he unto thee, O ?nost Holy 
 Jesiis^ ttmiai Son of God, 
 
 That :hou didst submit to be betrayed by one 
 of thy d'sciplo, and ** led as a iamb to the slaugh- 
 ter" by thy imj)lacable enemies; that, deserted i)y 
 thy timid and faithless followers, thou didst pa- 
 tiently submit, in the hall of the high priest, and at 
 the tribunal of Pilate, to be unjustly arraigned aid 
 condemned, to be buffeted and spit upon, scourged 
 and mockfd — when thy omnipotent word could 
 have struck to the earth thy vengeful adversaries; 
 
 Praises f:vermore be unto thee, most Holy 
 Jesus, eternal Son of God, 
 
 That thou didst patiently labour under the load 
 of the ignominious cross on which thou wast to 
 suffer — and, condtmned as a malefactor, didst, 
 amidst the cruel taunts of thy enemies, sustain the 
 agonies of death, made more dreadful to thy spirit 
 by the wrath of thy Father ; 
 
 Praises evermore he unto thee, most Holy 
 Jesus, eternal Son of God, 
 
 That for us men, and for our salvation, these 
 painful sufferings, this ignominious and cruel death 
 were patiently sustained — that thou wast " woimd- 
 ed for our transgressions, and bruised for our ini- 
 quities, that the chastisement of our peace was 
 upon thee, and that by thy stripes we are healed ;" 
 
 Praises evermore be unto thee, most Holy 
 Jesus, eternal Son of God, 
 
 That by thy sufferings and death thou hast 
 sealed the truth of thy doctrines, and exhibjt<^d a 
 bright and affecting example of those graces of 
 
156 Friday Evening, 
 
 humility, meekness, ana love, which thou dost 
 call us to practise ; that by thy suffering life and 
 agonizing death, thou Liast powerfully enforced 
 thy instructions, rendered an all-sufficient atone- 
 ment for sin, and shed divine lustre on that path 
 of humble and holy obeditnce by which we are 
 to ascend to the gloriouJ=. bliss of thy eternal king- 
 dom ; 
 
 Praises evermore be unto thee^ eternal Son of 
 God, who didst take our nature upon thee, and for 
 us didst become obedient unto deaths even the death 
 of the cross* 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 " Almighty God, who hast given thine only 
 Son to bt both a sacrifice for sin, and also an ex- 
 ample of godly life ; give me grace that I may al- 
 Wctvs most thankfully receive that his inestimable 
 benefit, and also daily endeavour myself to follow 
 the blessed steps of his most holy life." O most 
 blessed and merciful Jesus, eternal Son of God, 
 who didst suffer for iniquities not thine own, and 
 by the shedding of thy most precious blood didst 
 pay the infinite price of our redemption ; may the 
 contemplation of thy bitter sufftrings excite in my 
 heart the emotions of lively gratitude to thee, my 
 gracious Redeemer, who couldst stoop from the 
 glory and felicity of the Godhead, and encounter 
 shame, sorrow, persecution, and death, to achieve 
 my deliverance and salvation. Contemplating, 
 with frequent and holy admiration, thy infinite 
 condescension and lovt-, may I regard no sacrifices 
 too dear, no service too exalted to testify my sen- 
 
Friday Evenbig, 157 
 
 bibility and gratitude. Let me not incur the awful 
 guilt of contemning the affecting motives to re- 
 pentance exhibited by thy precious blood, shed to 
 atone for my sins. Beholding, in the agonies of 
 thy cross, both the fearful display of the justice of 
 God, and the attractive lustre of his infinite mercy, 
 may the emotions of holy apprehension and love 
 unite to excite in my heart the resolution of serving 
 thee. O let me not sink under the condemnation 
 of having contemned thy bitter agonies, of having 
 trampled thee under foot, of having put thee to an 
 open shame, of having crucified thee afresh, by 
 my transgressions. Over the emblems of thy suf- 
 ferings, displayed on the altar, may I resolve to 
 renounce all my sins ; and may I offer thee a heart 
 penetrated with the emotions of contrition, grati- 
 tude, and love. And O thou compassionate Re- 
 deemer, in whose suffering fife the virtues of hu- 
 mility, patience, and divine charity shone forth 
 with the most exalted lustre — may the example 
 thou hast set me be the subject of my constant 
 and devout meditations ; and w^armed with the 
 glorious view, may I resolve to imitate thy divine 
 humility, patience, and love. May the contem- 
 plation of thy cross, on which, in the iigonies of 
 death, thou didst pour forth the earnest prayer for 
 pardon on thy relentless enemies, disarm in my 
 soul every purpose of resentment, and quicken the 
 emotions of forgiveness and kindness. Eternal 
 Spirit 1 fountain of divine love ! shed abroad in 
 my iieart that sacred charity for all mankind, that 
 tender affection and sympathy for the members of 
 Christ's mystical body, by which I shall be con- 
 formed to the likeness of my b! essed Redeemer, 
 and made meet for his eternal k ngdom of peace 
 O 
 
158 Friday Evening, 
 
 and joy. Holy Spirit ! when I approach that ban- 
 quet, where Christians commemorate their Sa- 
 viour's mercy, and testify that they are partakers 
 of the same blessed privileges and hopes, may thy 
 grace subdue every resentful and angry passion, 
 and enkindle the flame of divine chr.rity. May 
 my soul embrace in its ardent affection the holy 
 company of the redeemed, who meet at the altar 
 to celebrate the immortal triumphs and blessings 
 of their Saviour's mercy. May thy grace unite 
 mc to them in the bands of sympathy and friend- 
 ship, and t:xcite me uniformly to exercise towards 
 them the virtues of gendeness, forbearance, and 
 love. Thus, O my Saviour, by fulfilling that law 
 of celestid kindness which thou didst so earnestly 
 and repeatedly enjoin, may I exhibit to the world 
 the engaofing lustre of diy blessed religion. Thus 
 cherishing the spirit of divine love in the exercise 
 of forbearance and forgiveness, may I ever be ac- 
 knowledged by thee as an acceptable guest at thy 
 holy table ; and finally be admitted to the celestial 
 supper of the Lamb ; to the participation of the 
 everlasting festival of love in thy heavenly king- 
 dom ; to the hallowed chorus of angels and arch- 
 angels, and the spirits of the just, celebrating in 
 unceasing strains the mgfsty and glory of God, 
 the Father, die Son, and the Holy Ghost, for ever 
 and ever. Amau 
 
Saturday Morning. 159 
 
 SATURDAY MORI^IIVG. 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 The devout participation of tlie Ordinances of the Church, the appointed 
 method of Salvation. 
 
 No truth can be more evident to reason, 
 than that God has a right to prescribe what 
 method he pleases for the salvation of man- 
 kind. Dependent upon him as their Creator 
 and their Judge, deriving from him life and 
 all its enjoyments, which they hold by the 
 dependent tenure of his sovereign will, they 
 are bound by every tie of duty, interest, and 
 gratitude, implicitly to fulfil his injunctions. 
 ^y obedience to his commands, they acknow- 
 ledge his supreme authority over them, and 
 attain that perfection and happiness for which 
 they were destined. By resistance to his 
 will, they forfeit that purity and bliss, which 
 are only to be found in the enjoyment of his 
 favour. When we further consider man as 
 a fallen creature, subject to the punishment 
 of his offended Judge, we shall be compelled 
 to acknowledge, that he can have no hope of 
 forgiveness but on those terms and conditions 
 which God may prescribe. If, then, God 
 hath seen fit to dispense his mercy and grace 
 through the ordinances of a church, by com- 
 munion with which guilty and condemned 
 man is to be restored to virtue and happiness 
 —who is he that will resist his will! To 
 
160 Saturday Morning. 
 
 dispute the propriety of his institutions, to 
 doubt the efficacy of the means which he 
 hath estabhshed, would be a presumptuous 
 eontempt of his mercy and power, a wilful 
 rejection of his proffered grace. Contemning 
 the means which he hath instituted for our 
 salvation, we should aggravate to the deepest 
 dye the guilt of rebellion against our almighty 
 Sovereign and Judge ; and without any plea 
 to extenuate our guilt, v^^e should sink under 
 the avenging arm of his justice. 
 
 That in order to our deliverance from the 
 condemnation and wrath which our sins have 
 incurred, and to our restoration to the favour 
 of God, we must humbly and devoutly parti- 
 cipate of the ordinances of the church, is a 
 truth, therefore, which rests on the simple 
 fact, that God hath instituted these ordinances 
 as the means of salvation, the channels of 
 mercy and grace. 
 
 To be fully satisfied of this fact, and to be 
 rightly informed in the necessity, the nature, 
 and efficacy of the ordinances of the church, 
 deeply concerns us. Our eternal happiness 
 depends on our submission to the means and 
 conditions of salvation which God hath pre- 
 scribed. And the ordinances of the church 
 will appear unnecessary and useless ; they 
 will exhibit no claim to our reverence, atten- 
 tion, or obedience, unless we regard them as 
 instituted by God himself, and accompanied, 
 when duly administered and received, by his 
 grace and mercy. 
 
Saturday Moniing, 161 
 
 It must be evident, therefore, that a deep 
 conviction of the necessity and inestimable 
 benefits of the ordinances of the church is 
 necessary to an humble and enlightened par- 
 ticipation of them. It will, therefore, be highly 
 useful and proper, that the Christian who is 
 eng^iged in preparing for the reception of 
 the holy eucharist, the most sublime act of 
 Christian worship, should be impressed with 
 the important truth, that the ordinances of 
 the church are appointed by God, and that 
 they are the instituted pledges of his mercy 
 and grace. He should be deeply impressed 
 with the important truth, that by the devout 
 participation of them, we preserve our com- 
 munion with the church, for which the Re- 
 deemer shed his blood, and thus become 
 entitled to the bless?ings of that covenant of 
 mercy which God hath promulgated to a 
 guilty world. When we firmly believe that 
 the power of God accompanies the due ad- 
 ministration of his ordinances ; that through 
 them, in the exercise of faith, we become 
 united to the Redeemer, and interested in his . 
 atonement and grace ; the devout participa- 
 tion of the holy eucharist will appear neces- 
 sary to our salvation. Its high and awful 
 import, as a channel of divine mercy and 
 grace, im[)ressed upon our minds, will tend 
 to quicken and exalt our reverence, our peni- 
 tence, our faith, our gratitude and love. Turn 
 then, O my soul, to the consideration of the 
 humble, but, through the grace and blessing 
 
 2 
 
162 Saturday Morning. 
 
 of God, powerful means which he hath in- 
 stituted for thy salvation ! 
 
 That the truths of religion should be com- 
 memorated, and its blessings conveyed by 
 external rites, is perfectly agreeable to the 
 nature of man. His senses are the principal 
 inlets of his knowledge, and through them 
 the most lively and permanent impressions 
 are made on his mind. There is no truth 
 which the consideration of human nature, 
 and the testim(jny of daily experience, more 
 strongly establish, than that man is swayed 
 more by his passions than by his reason. By 
 the impressive power of external rites and 
 emblems you gain access to his passions ; 
 you awaken, you guide and control them. 
 So great is the influence of external rites on 
 the mind, that men in ail aofes have had re- 
 course to them to perpetuate the memory of 
 signal achievements, and lo excite and pre- 
 serve the sentiments of religion. The nature 
 of man, therefore, required that the important 
 truths of religion should be impressed on the 
 mind l)y external emblems and rites. By 
 these figurative institutions, spiritual and ab- 
 stract truths, which are so difficult of appre- 
 hension, are clearly conveyed ; the under- 
 . standing is enlightened ; the imagination and 
 the feelings, those powerful springs of huiuiin 
 action, are roused. Ordinances and rites, 
 instituted by God himself as memorials of 
 those exalted displays of mercy i»y which our 
 fedeaipliou was eifecied, powerfully tend to 
 
Saturday Morning,^ 163 
 
 confirm our faith, to enliven our gratitude, to 
 cherish our love. They keep up the lively 
 remembrance of the wonderful mercy and 
 grace of God, and exhibit, in the most im- 
 pressive manner, the glorious achieveiuents 
 by which our Redeemer subdued the adver- 
 saries of our salvation. 
 
 Wonder not then, O my soul, that the in- 
 finitely wise Cre;itor of the universe should 
 condescend, in all his dispensations to the 
 world, to consult the nature of mnn, and to 
 institute ordinances as memorials of his love, 
 and channels of his mercy and grace. Even 
 in that stale of priuiitive perfection, where 
 the ever-blessed Jehovah vouchsafed to hold 
 immediate converse with tlie favoured parents 
 of our race, figurative emblems were institut- 
 ed to remind them of their duty, to convey 
 and recall to them their glorious privileges 
 and hopes. The tree of the knowledge of 
 good and evil constantly reminded them of 
 the obligation of obedience to the sovereign 
 Author of their being, and of all their mercies ; 
 and powerfully impressed on their remem- 
 brance the awful penalty of contemning the 
 consmands of their almighty Lawgiver and 
 Judge. The tree oj life, to which they hud 
 constant access, was the seal and pledge of 
 that immortality which was to be the glorious 
 reward of their obedience. After the fall had 
 involved them m the curse of transgression, 
 had stripped them of their purity and glory, 
 and rendered them obnoxious to the wrath 
 
164 Saturday Morjiing, 
 
 of God, the hope of mercy was lighted up in 
 itieir minds by the institution of sacrifices, 
 which their offended God made the channels 
 to his favours. While the shedding of the 
 blood of beasts on the altar awakened in the 
 soul of fallen man the recollection of his guilt, 
 which required expiation, it carried forward 
 his joyful view to the promised victim, the 
 infinite efficacy of whose blood would wash 
 aw :y the stain of sin. When, in the further 
 unfolding of that plan of redemption which 
 was to be finally consummated in the glorious 
 pr(unulgation of the Gospel, God chose a 
 particuhir fimdly and nation to be the rej)Osi- 
 t(»riesof his will, and the iieirsof his promises; 
 the rile of circumcision was instituted, to be 
 both a lively memorial of duty and a pledge 
 of the Divine favour. Take a view of the 
 Jewish law, and you will find that its numer- 
 ous, significant, and splendid rites, were the 
 instituted means by which the people of 
 Israel maintained their conjmunion with God ; 
 gratefully commc^morated the deliverance 
 which his almighty arm wrought for them, 
 and laid their claim to his blessing and ever- 
 lasting favour. 
 
 When he, the glorious seed of the woman, 
 whose promised aj)[)earance kindled the first 
 gleam of hope whi(!h illumined the souls of 
 tlie wretched parents of our race after their 
 rebellion against God — he, whose joyful day 
 the fathers beheld and were glad — when he, 
 to whom all the prophets and the law bore 
 
Saturday Morning. 165 
 
 witness, appeared to complete the work of 
 redemjjtion, by the shedding of his blood ; 
 the same plan of Divine Providence which 
 had distinguished the preceding dispensations 
 was still preserved Through the channel of 
 rites and ordi?iances were the mercy and 
 grace of God to be conveyed; by them were 
 the glorious achievements to be commemo- 
 rated by which our redemption was etiected. 
 A church was instituted, which was to be the 
 repository of the laws, of the mercy and grace 
 of God. Destined to be everlasting in its 
 duration, it was the promise of the Divine 
 Founder of the church, that the gates of hell 
 should not prevail against it. Officers were 
 appointed to rule it; to administer its ordin- 
 ances ; to conduct its worship ; to enact its 
 laws ; to execute its discipline — and with 
 them, successively deriving their power from 
 him, the Redeemer promised to be " alway, 
 even to the end of the world." 
 
 Into this church, the " body," which derives 
 life, strength, and salvation from Christ its 
 head, baptism was instituted as the sacred 
 rite of admission. In this regenerating or- 
 dinance, fallen man is born again from a state 
 of condemnation into a state of grace ; he 
 obtains a title to the presence of the Holy 
 Spirit, to the forgiveness of sins, to all those 
 precious and immortal blessings which the 
 blood of Christ purchased. The humble 
 Christian, who, by actual repentance, by lively 
 faith, and holy obedience, fulfils his baptismal 
 
166 Saturday Morning, 
 
 eiiira^ements, is invested in the rite of cow- 
 Jirmation with all those spiritual blessings 
 which baptism conditionally conferred, with 
 the inanifoid and strengthening aids of the 
 Hoiy Gliost, (Acts viii. 17.) In the worship 
 of the sanctuary, he maintains that intercourse 
 with heaven, by which his faith is confirmed, 
 his love quickened, his resolutions of obedi- 
 ence strengthened, his soul prepared for the 
 blissful services of the church and temple of 
 God eternal in the heavens. By that powerful 
 grace which accompanies the preaching of 
 the icord, the terrors of the law are impressed 
 on the hearts of the careless ; the promises 
 of mercy applied to the trembling conscience 
 of the penitent ; divine light, consolation, and 
 triumph poured upon the path v/hich conducts 
 the Christian to immortal glory. In that most 
 sublime ordinance, the holy eucharist, are 
 centred all the blessings of the Redeemer's 
 mercy, and the almighty energies of his grace 
 and love. In the participation of it, the de- 
 vout believer offers unto God the acceptable 
 sacrifice of thanksgiving for the infinite mer- 
 cies of redemption. He becomes united to 
 his Saviour in the bonds of the everlasting 
 covenant. The pardon of his sins, the reno- 
 vating and consoling guidance of divine grace, 
 the love and favour of his reconciled Father 
 and God, a title to immortal felicity, are con- 
 veyed and sealed to him by the body and 
 blood of Christ, of which, under lively em-^ 
 blems, he partakes. 
 
Saturday Moniing, 167 
 
 Behold then, O my soul, tlie same glorious 
 plan distinguishing all the divine dispensa- 
 tions. It hath pleased the Sovereign Lord of 
 the universe uniformly to dispense his mercy 
 and grace through tiie channel of ordinances 
 and riteSy instituted as the means and pledges 
 of salvation. Humble and insignificant to the 
 eye of sense, to the proud and presumptuous 
 mind, may appear the rites which Jehovah 
 makes the pledges of his mercy, the means 
 of redemption to his fallen creatures. But 
 faith will discern in them the power of the 
 most high God, whose ways are not as our 
 ways ; who, both in nature and in grace, ac- 
 complishes the most stupendous objects by 
 the most humble instruments ; and who more 
 illustriously magnifies his power and con- 
 founds the pride of man, in proportion to the 
 weakness and imperfection of the agents, 
 who effect the purposes of his sovereign will. 
 The holy sacraments of the church advance 
 our salvation, not only by their natural ten- 
 dency to cherish faith, gratitude, penitence, 
 love, and every other divine virtue, but by 
 the refreshing grace and rnercij which they 
 convey to those who receive them worthily. 
 They are not merely lively and afftHtiing 
 mcworm/5, calculated to impress on the mind 
 the interesting truths of redemption, and to 
 display, by significant emblems, the glories 
 and triumphs of redeeming love. But they 
 are instituted by God, di^ pledges of his £rrace 
 and mercy ; as channels to convey to degen- 
 
168 Saturday Morning, 
 
 erate man spiritual blessings and privileges, 
 ordinarily to be obtained in no other way. 
 The sprinkling of the body with water is a 
 significant emblem of the spiritual purification 
 which we must undergo. Bread broken, and 
 wine poured out, may be considered as lively 
 symbols of the sufferings and death of the 
 Saviour, in remembrance of whom we eat the 
 bread and drink the wine. The sacraments 
 of baptism and the Lord's supper, considered 
 in this single point of view, as memorials or 
 emblems of the most interesting spiritual 
 truths, are calculated to produce tlie most 
 important instruction and consolation. But 
 their value and importance rise beyond all 
 comparison, when we regard them further as 
 the instituted means and pledges of all the 
 blessings of salvation. Wherever the Gospel 
 is promulgated, the sacrament o^ baptism is 
 the mode through which we must be admitted 
 into covenant with God, and by which we 
 must obtain a title to those blessings and 
 privileges which Christ has purchased for his 
 mystical body, the cliurch: the participation 
 of the body and blood of Christ in the hohj 
 eucharisty is the mode by which we must be- 
 come interested in the merits of the {Saviour's 
 death and passion, by which the guilt of sin 
 must be removed, and its power subdued in 
 our hearts ; by which our perishing natures 
 must derive the blessing of immortal glory. 
 The holy sacraments are the instituted means 
 by which God conveys to the penitent and 
 
Saturday Mornitig, 169 
 
 feithtiil those spiritual and immortal bless- 
 ings, for which repentance, faith, and obedi- 
 ence, are necessary qualifications. " Repent 
 and be baptized for the remission of sins." 
 '* Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, 
 and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." 
 We must sincerely repent of our sins ; we 
 must heartily believe the Gospel; we must 
 walk in the paths of holy obedience ; we must 
 also enter into covenant with God by baptism; 
 and ratifying our vows of allegiance and duty 
 at the holy sacrament of the supper, comine- 
 niorate the meritorious sacrifice of Christ. 
 The sacraments are the means by whicii we 
 Q'eceive the inestimable blessings of redemp- 
 tion — the pledges by which they are assured 
 to us. 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 O Almighty God, who in thy wise provi- 
 dence hast appointed ordinances to be the 'mrmo- 
 rials of thy love, and the pledges and channels of 
 thy L';race and mercy to a fallen world, teach me 
 humbly to adore thy sovereign will, and reverently 
 to submit to thy institutions. Ever cherish in<^ a 
 profound sense of thy almighty power, and of my 
 own weakness, guilt, and dependence, may I re- 
 press the arrogance which would lead me to ar- 
 raign thy dispensations, or to neglect and contemn 
 the ins ituted means of grace. Thy infinite con- 
 descension and goodness, O God, in setting f )rth 
 and conveying, by ordinances and rites, the bless- 
 ings of salvation, demand mv sincere and lively 
 
 P 
 
170 Saturday Morning. 
 
 gratitude. May I devoutly magnify thy name, 
 that, by lively symbols addressing and engaging 
 my senses, thou dost powerfully impress on my 
 understanding the awful and affecting mysterit^s of 
 my redemption, and dost awaken the aftections of 
 my soul in thy love and service. Evtr mindful 
 that thy almighty power can give efficacy to the 
 most humble instruments, may I discern, by the 
 eye of faith, under the outward and vmble signs 
 of thy holy sacraments, the inward and spiritual 
 grace which they signify and are designed to con- 
 vey. Save me, O God, Irom the guilt and pre- 
 sun^ption of endeavouring to separate what thou 
 hast inviolably connected; of presuming to claim 
 thy grace and mercy, while I neglect or contemn 
 the means 2Lnd pledges by which they are conveyed 
 and assured to me. To the holy sacraments and 
 ordinances of thy church may I ever have recourse, 
 as the divine seals by which thy mercy is conveyed 
 to my soul — the channels by which quickening, 
 purifying, and refreshing streams flow from the 
 fountain of thy grace. And while I thus reverence 
 thy holy ordinances, and by steadfastly and con- 
 stantly partaking of them, keep up my communion 
 with thee, my God, may I ever remember that 
 their inestimubk blessings are fully conveyed only 
 to the humble, the penitent, and the faithful. 
 Teach me, therefrrt, O God, sedulously to cherish 
 those virtues of humility, of penitence, and of faith, 
 by which alone I can be a worthy partaker of thy 
 holy sacraments, and expect to receive in them 
 the communications of thy grace and love. O 
 be thou pleased ever to guide and aid me in my 
 preparation for thy holy ordinances. Let thy pre- 
 venting grace quicken my penitence, confirm my 
 
Saturday Morning, 171 
 
 faith, and awaken my gratitude and love; that 
 thus partaking of thy ordinances under a lively- 
 sense of my unworthiness, and with earnest desires 
 for thy grace and mercy, they may seal to my soul 
 the blessings of redemption, and reinstate me in 
 thy everlasting love and favour. Hear me in these 
 my humble supplications, O merciful God, and 
 irrant that the ordinances of thy church establishing 
 in my soul celestial graces and virtues, may pre- 
 pare me for admission into thy heavenly kingdom, 
 where my soul shall drink at the fountain of im- 
 mortal pleasure, and be satisfied with the fulness of 
 glory and bliss, through Jesus Christ my Mediator 
 and Redeemer. Amen. 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 The mode by wlilcli aut'iority to adminuter the Sacraments is to be. 
 derived t'roru Carist, the Divine Head of the Cliurch. 
 
 Considering the sacraments as means and 
 pledges of divine grace and mercy, it must 
 be evident that their efficacy depends not on 
 any inherent virtue, but on the j^oicer of God 
 which accompanies ihem. Hence results the 
 important truth, that in order to be effectual, 
 to be acknowledged by God, and accompanied 
 by his power, they must be administered by 
 those who have received a commission for 
 the purpose from him. It is of the utmost 
 importance, therefore, to ascertain with whom 
 God has vested authority to administer tiiose 
 sacraments which derive all tiieir efficacy 
 from being administered according to bis 
 appointment. 
 
172 Saturday Morning, 
 
 The Son of God, as the Redeemer of man- 
 kind, was constituted by his Almighty Father 
 the "Head of the church." To him, as the 
 King and Ruler of this spiritual kingdom, 
 " aJl power was given in heaven and in earth." 
 From iiim, therefore, must emanate all au- 
 thority in the church. The fanatic or enthu- 
 siast, who, invading any of the ministerial 
 functions, pretends that he has received im- 
 Qncdiatchf from God a divine commission, 
 cannot claim the confidence of mankind, un- 
 less, like the apostles, he proves, by the ex- 
 ercise o^ miraculous poucr, that God is in- 
 deed with him. Every claim to the ministerial 
 function, in the present day, founded on an 
 immediate commission from God, must be 
 rejected as false and impious. There remains, 
 therefore, no way in which spiritual authority 
 can be derived from the divine Head of the 
 church, but through the agency of a set of 
 men originally deriving their authority from 
 Christ, and successively transmitting " it to 
 the end of the world." 
 
 In inquiring concerning the constitution of 
 the Christian ministry, we would certainly be 
 authorized in supposing, that in its orders it 
 would resemble the JeirAsh priesthood. The 
 Christian dispensation was only the glorious 
 development and consummation of that divine 
 system of grace and mercy, the outlines of 
 which had been traced in the types and 
 shadows of the Jewish ritual. As the types 
 and shadows of the law were not abolished. 
 
Saturdaij Morning, 173 
 
 but all gloriously fulfilled in the Saviour, and 
 in the ordinances of his spiritual kingdom, 
 the presumption surely is not unwarrantable, 
 that as the Jewish priesthood subsisted under 
 the three orders of high priest, priests, and 
 levites, so the Christian ministry would be 
 constituted under three orders resembling 
 these. Accordingly, the notion was prevalent 
 among the primitive fathers, that the orders 
 ot bishops, priests, and deacons, in the Chris- 
 tian church, were instituted in conformity to 
 the three orders of the priesthood in tho 
 Jewish church. 
 
 That Christ transferred all spiritual power 
 in the church to the apostles, is evident from 
 the commission wliich he gave them. " As 
 my Father sent me, even so send I you." 
 The Father sent him, the Prophet, the Priest, 
 and Ruler of the church. The apostles, 
 therefore, were commissioned to be the pro- 
 phetSf the priests, and the governors of the 
 church. 
 
 That this commission was not temporary, 
 and to die with the apostles ; but, on the con- 
 trary, was to be perpetuated in tlie church, 
 is evident from the concluding words of the 
 commission : " Lo, 1 am with you alway, 
 even to the end of the world.'''' The apostles 
 and their successors, therefore, were commis- 
 sioned to promulgate the terms of salvation, 
 to teach and enforce its doctrines and duties. 
 They were also commissioned to intercede 
 fur and bless the people, and to present ia 
 P 2 
 
174 Saturday Monmig, 
 
 the holy eucharisi the commemorative sacri-^ 
 fice of the death of Christ. They were fur- 
 ther commissioned to govern the church, to 
 admit into and to exclude from its commu- 
 nion, to enact its laws, and to administer its 
 discipline. And this authority was to be 
 transmitted in the church " alway, even to 
 the end of the world." 
 
 Whether the priesthood vested with these 
 high and spiritual powers was to subsist under 
 only one order, or under several orders, with 
 powers in some respects distinct and appro- 
 priate, is a question which \\\e practice oi Xhe 
 apostles, who were appointed by Christ to 
 constitute the church, must determine. That 
 the apostles ordained elders and deacons in 
 the different churches, and vested them with 
 certain ministerial powers, will readily be 
 admitted. And that there was an order con- 
 stituted superior to these, with the exclusive 
 power of ordaininor to the ministry, is a fact 
 equally undeniable. In Ephesus certainly, 
 and most probably in Crete, ciders were at 
 an early period nppointed, (Acts xx. 17, 28.) 
 Afterwards Paul commissioned Timothy and 
 Titus, and sent thiMu to those |)laces, for the 
 express purpose i)f ordaining elders in every 
 city, (1 Tim. v. 22. Tiuis i. 5.) Was not this 
 commission anal)surd and useless one, if the 
 elders in those places possessed the [)ower of 
 ordination? Even all .wing thnt the concur- 
 rence if the elders was nec.essfirv in ord nniag 
 to the ministry, and governing the church, 
 
Safurday Ahniinf^, 17^ 
 
 tlie commission given to Timothy anrl Titus 
 certainly proves that the supreme power was 
 vested in them; and that without lliem power 
 in the church could not be h^gitim.itely exer- 
 cised. That the priesthood, therefore, was 
 constituted under three ordf^rs ; and that to 
 the first order beh:)nged the power of ordaining 
 to the ministry, atid of thus perpetuating the 
 priesthood through all ages of tiie church, are 
 facts established by the testimony of Scrip- 
 ture. That these orders are not now distin- 
 guished by tlie same names by which they 
 were designated during tlie age of tlie apos- 
 tles ; that the name i)i' bishoj}, now applied 
 to the first order, is frequently, in the sacred 
 writings, applied to the 8rco//<^ order, are poi tits 
 unworthy oi* a moment's attention in this im- 
 portant inquiry. By the clear evidence of 
 Scripture /acf, the division of the Christ isn 
 ministry into three or(iers ; the approjiriation 
 of the povver (>{ ordination to the first order, 
 thus constituted the only leoitimate channel 
 of conveying the divine comsnission necessary 
 to the exercise of the mijiistry, m ly be satis- 
 factorily [)roved. The chantros wliich may 
 have taken place in tlie names by which these 
 orders have l>een designat^Ml, cannot alf..ct 
 the distinction of ofiice and power among 
 them. 
 
 But if it should be conceived, that the 
 Scripture testimony on this important subject 
 is in any respect dubious, where may we seek 
 for sulisfactory ligiii and information I Ger- 
 
176 Saturday Morning. 
 
 tainly in the faith and practice of the primitive 
 church. These, unquestionably, afford the 
 clejjrest and best light by which to elucidate 
 and establish the meaning of Scripture in 
 parts which admit of doubt and controversy. 
 Founded, as tiie primitive church was, by the 
 inspired apostles; and having access, as its 
 venerable fathers had, to the source of divine 
 truth and knowledge ; it is scarcely possil)le 
 that we can err, if we take its univt^rsal faith 
 and usage as the standard by which to inter- 
 prt ft the sacred writings. To t'ust, indeed, 
 to the single testimony of any one father of 
 the church, or to embrace his speculative 
 op?///r>7/sor interpretations of kScripture, woidd 
 Jbe indiscreetly to take as our guides, imper- 
 fect and fallible men. But thouijh liable to 
 error in judgment, the primitive fathers must 
 be revered as men of exalted piety and in- 
 tegrity. As imtNesses to fnatters of fact, to 
 the doctrines which were universally received, 
 and to the usages which universally prevailed 
 in the church, their testimony is invalual)le ; 
 ami in all controverted points, siiould be 
 decisive. Whenever we find the primitive 
 fathers concur in testifying that any doctrine 
 or usage was universally received in the 
 church as of divine authority and institution — 
 to doubt or rtject their testimony would be 
 at once to relinquish the very foundations of 
 the Christian faiih. For their testimony is 
 necessary to establish the canon of {Scripture ; 
 to prove that the books which we now receive 
 
Saturday Morning, 177 
 
 as inspired books, were revered and received 
 as sucii in the apostolic and primitive age. 
 
 To the first writers of the church, therefore, 
 we may safely recur for information in regard 
 to its constitution, and the orders of the mi- 
 nistry. As these were matters of fact, it is 
 not possible that the primitive fathers could 
 err in regard to them : and since they were 
 men of undoubted piety and integrity, they 
 would not attempt to deceive. It may con- 
 fidently be asserted, that their testimony is 
 not more clear and decisive, in regard to the 
 genuineness and authenticity of the books of 
 the sacred volume, than in regard to the facts 
 — that the ministry was instituted by Christ 
 and his apostles, under three distinct and 
 8vbo7'dinate orders; that these orders, retain- 
 ing uniformly the same distinct ecclesiastical 
 authority, were first styled apostles — bishops, 
 presbyters or elders — and deacons; and after- 
 wards bishops — presbyters, priests or elders 
 — and deacons ; that no one could lawfully 
 exercise the ministry, unless ordained by a 
 bishop ; and that, through the order of bi- 
 shops, as successors to the apostles, the 
 priesthood was to be perpetuated, and all 
 power to be derived from Christ, the supreme 
 Head of the church. 
 
 It is conceded by those who, within these 
 few last centuries, have advanced the novel 
 opinion of the original parity of the orders 
 of the ministry, that bishops were universally 
 considered in the fourth century as superior 
 
178 Saturday Morning, 
 
 to presbyters and deacons. It is unfortunate 
 for them, when they maintain that the supre- 
 macy of bishops was an innovation on the 
 apostolic constitution of the church, that no 
 vestiges can be traced of a revolution which 
 must have sliaken the foundations of the 
 church ; that no record can be found of this 
 daring usurpation of authority, by a few am- 
 bitious presbyters, over the rest of their bre- 
 thren ; and that there are scarcely any two of 
 those who assert this usurpation, who agree 
 as to the time when it took place. Is not 
 the conclusion irresistible and irrefragable, 
 that if the church universal, from the third 
 to the sixteenth century, was governed by 
 hiskopSf as superior \o presbyters and deacons 
 — and if no period can be ascertained when 
 this government was introduced into the 
 church, it must be traced to apostolic institu- 
 tion, and of course rest on divine authority!* 
 This discussion is of the highest import- 
 ance to him who is preparing to receive the 
 holy eucharist. For the important truth re- 
 sults from it, that none can possess authority 
 to administer the sacraments but those who 
 have received a commission from the bishops 
 of the church. It must be essential, therefore, 
 to the efficacy of the Lord's supper, as a 
 means and pledge of divine grace, that it be 
 administered by those who have received 
 lawjul authority to administer it. 
 
 • Sec nete A at the end of the volume. 
 
Saturday Morning* 179 
 
 To this statement, whioh makes the bless- 
 ings of the Gospel to depend on communion 
 with the church, by the participation of its 
 ordinances, administered by duly authorized 
 ministers, the objection may be opposed, that 
 it is narroicing the path of salvation. But if 
 a solicitude be commendable to prevent the 
 path of salvation from being unduly narrowed 
 and confined, the solicitude to prevent it from 
 being made more wide and easy than God 
 has made it, is surely also commendable. 
 To undervalue or remove those institutions 
 which God hath established as the means of 
 salvation, is to contemn his authority, and to 
 endanger the souls of men. It is an unau- 
 thorized, a criminal, a cruel charity, which 
 would present salvation to men, stripped of 
 those conditions on which it is attainable. 
 Real charity, the charity which most effectu- 
 ally promotes the welffire of men, would lead 
 us faithfully to point out the conditions on 
 which God will restore fallen man to his 
 favour; and then earnestly and atfectiondtely 
 to enforce these conditions. In the inscrut- 
 able plan of Divine Providence, as it has 
 hitherto been unfolded, every dispensation of 
 his grace has been confined to a part only of 
 mankind. Did he not call Abraham and his 
 family from a corrupt world to be the distin- 
 guished repositories of his will, his blessing, 
 and favour] Were not the Jews separated 
 from the rest of the world, to be his "hosen 
 people ; to whom " pertained the adoption 
 
180 Saturday Morning, 
 
 and the glory, and the covenants, and the 
 givino^ of the law, and the service of God, 
 and the promises f' Are not Christians now 
 called from the rest of the world to be " a 
 chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a pecu- 
 liar peof)le ;" blessed with the glorious light 
 of the Gospel, with the consoling and reno- 
 vatiuiT efficacy of the Redeemer's merits and 
 grace, with the splendid hopes of immortality ? 
 In thus distinguishing particular portions of 
 the human race with his peculiar favours, 
 God " acts according to the counsel of his 
 own will;" " he giveth not to man an account 
 of his doings;" he asserts the power of the 
 potter over his clay, " to create one vessel to 
 honour, and another to dishonour." As the 
 Almighty Creator of the world, God may 
 distribute his favours to mankind according 
 to his sovereign pleasure. And when he 
 finally determines the destinies of men, ac- 
 cording to the improvement which they have 
 made of the privileges conferred upon them, 
 it can be no imputation on his justice or 
 goodness that he distinguishes with peculiar 
 favours particular portions of the human race, 
 and renders them capable of hicrher bliss in 
 a future state of existence. To suppose that 
 the patriarchs, on whom shone the peculiar 
 blessings of heaven ; that the favoured nation 
 of the Israelites, to whom the law was ^iven 
 in its divine majesty and lustre ; and that 
 Christirms, under the luminous and glorious 
 dispensation of the Gospel, were not rendered 
 
Saturday Morning, 18 i 
 
 capable of higher degrees of virtue and hap- 
 piness than the rest of mankind; would be 
 to strip the favour and grace of God of their 
 value and efficacy, and to render futile and 
 contemptible the ordinances which he has 
 appointed as the means of communion with 
 him. 
 
 The Judge of the whole earth indeed will 
 do right. The grace of God quickens and 
 animates all the degenerate children of Adam, 
 The mercy of the Saviour is co-extensive with 
 the ruin into which sin has plunged mankind. 
 And ** in every nation, he that feareth God 
 and worketh righteousness, is accepted with 
 him." But where the Gospel is proclaimed, 
 communion with the church by the participa- 
 tion of its ordinances at the hands of the 
 duly authorized priesthood, is the prescribed 
 method of salvation,* Separation from the 
 divinely constituted ministry of the church, 
 when it proceeds from in oluntarij and un- 
 avoidable ignorance or error, we have reason 
 to trust will not intercept, from the humble, 
 the penitent, and obedient, the blessings of 
 God's favour. But when we humbly submit 
 to that priesthood which Christ and his apos- 
 tles constituted ; when in the lively exercise 
 of penitence and faith, we partake of the or- 
 
 * In the first editions tlie expression was, " indispensable cortflitinn of 
 salvation ;" liy which the author meant n condition vith uiiich nmn liad 
 no right to dispense. And he supposed his mewning would noi be mis- 
 iinderstood, EJiiie, in the very next sentence, lie exi)iesse(i ilie opinion, 
 that in certain cases tliei •- was reason to trust God would dispense with 
 the condition which he had prescribed. The nneaning of the author;, 
 however, having been misuodei-stood, the passage has teen altered. 
 
 Q 
 
182 Saturday Mornhig. 
 
 dinances administered by them ; we niaintair* 
 our communion with that church which the 
 Redeemer purifies by his blood; which he 
 quickens by his Spirit ; and whose faithful 
 members he will finally crown with the most 
 exalted glories of his heavenly kingdom. 
 The important truth which the universal 
 church has uniformly maintained, that to ex- 
 perience the full efi^icacy of the sacraments, 
 we must receive them from a valid authority, 
 is not inconsistent with that charity which 
 extends mercy to all who labour under in- 
 xolinitary error. But great is the guilt, and 
 imminent the danger, of those who, possess- 
 ing the means of arriving at the knowledge 
 of the truth, negUgcntly or uilfully continue 
 in a state of separation from the authorized 
 ministry of the church, and participate of 
 ordinances administered by an irregular and 
 invalid authority. Wilfully rending the peace 
 and unity of the ciiurch, by separating from 
 the ministrations of its authorized priesthood; 
 and contemning the means Vv'hich God in iiis 
 sovereign pleasure liath prescribed for their 
 salvation ; they are guilty of rebellion against 
 their almighty Lawgiver and Judge ; they 
 expose themselves to the awful displeasure 
 of that almighty Jehovah, wlio will not permit 
 his institutions to be contemned, or his au- 
 thority violated with impunity. 
 
 Let it be, therefore, thy supreme care, O 
 mv soul, to receive t!ie blessed sacrament of 
 the body and blood of thy Saviour, only from 
 
Saturday MGrning. 183 
 
 ihc hands of those who derive their authority 
 by regular transmission from Christ, the di- 
 vine Head of the church, the only legitimate 
 source of power in it. Thou wiit then enjoy 
 the assurance, that his holy sacrament, w4iich 
 derives all its efficacy from the accompanying 
 power of Christ, administered by those to 
 whom he hath given his commission and au- 
 thority, will be acknowledged and blessed by 
 him to thy comfort and salvation : will, if 
 humbly and devoutly received by ihce, be the 
 mean and pledge of his pardoning mercy 
 and strengthening grace. By preserving thy 
 communion with the authorized priestliood ; 
 by revering that ministerial authority, and 
 submitting to those institutions w^hich thy 
 Saviour established ; thou wilt maintain the 
 unit]/ of the church, and thus fulfil the high 
 injunction of Christ and his apostles often 
 repeated and earnestly enforced. The hum- 
 ble and obedient member of his church on 
 earth, thou wilt finally be advanced to those 
 glorious rewards which he hath prepared in 
 the Church Triumphant, for all the faithful 
 members of his mystical body. 
 
 Deplorable, indeed, in this degenerate day, 
 is the state of the church, where sect ariseth 
 against sect, and altar against altar ; where 
 the apostolic ministry is invaded and violated ; 
 ordinances administered by invalid authority; 
 and that sacred " body," which should be 
 " one" \\\\h its divine '' Head," rent by num- 
 berless schisms. . Let it be the subject of thy 
 
184 Saturday Morning. 
 
 earnest prayers to God, that by bestowing on 
 the church the divine spirit of peace and eon- 
 cord, he would heal the divisions that now 
 deface her glory. Let it be the object of thy 
 earnest solicitude and exertions, to restore 
 all who profess themselves Christians, to that 
 apostolic order and ministry which were so 
 long the glory of the universal church. She 
 would then shine forth, as she did in the 
 primitive ages, in the garments of glory and 
 beauty ; and, attracting the nations within 
 her spiritual fold, would become a praise 
 throughout the earth. *' Jerusalem would be 
 as a city that is at unity in itself. Thither 
 tlie tribes would go up, even the tribes of the 
 Lord, to testify unto Israel, and to give thanks 
 unto the name of the Lord." Christians, 
 communing with the authorized ministers of 
 the church, by the participation of the sacra- 
 ments and ordinances duly administered by 
 them, would be united " as one fold under 
 one shepherd :" from their divine Head they 
 would derive life, strength, and salvation ; 
 partaking at the same altar of the sacred 
 body and blood of their Saviour, they would 
 be nourished and prepared for the transcend- 
 dMl bliss of the Church Triumphant. 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty and everlasting God, who hast 
 " built thy church upon the foundation of the apos- 
 tles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the 
 
Saturday Morning. 185' 
 
 chief corner-stone;'* teach me ever to bear ia 
 mind, that m thy wise and sovereign Providence 
 thou hast made this church the channel through 
 which thy covenanted mercies are conveyed to a 
 fallen world. Blessed be thy name, that tliou hast 
 called me into a state of salvation ; and through the 
 sacrament of baptism, conferred on me a title to 
 the privileges of thy holy church. Impress on me 
 the awful guilt and danger of forfeiting, by disobe- 
 dience, by impenitence, or by neglect of thy holy 
 ordinances, my title to the inestimable privileges 
 of my Christian vocation. In the exercise of lively 
 penitence and faith, may I humbly and thankfully 
 partake of the ordinances of thy church ; and thus 
 maintaining my communion with it, derive from 
 Jesus, its divine Head, pardon, grace, consolation, 
 eternal glory. May I ever value, above all worldly- 
 distinctions and pleasures, the privilege of being 
 a member of thy church; and of thus having 
 access to the infinite fountain of thy grace and 
 mercy, thy everlasting love. Instead of presump- 
 tuously arraigning thy sovereign iubtitutions, may 
 I gratefully and humbly adore thee, that by the 
 ordinances of thy church, thou dost \'ouchsafe to 
 confer upon me the immortal blessings which, 
 through transgression, I had forfeited. 
 
 I bless thee, O God, that by instituting officers 
 in thy church, vested with a divine commission for 
 the exercise of spiritual powers, thou hast made 
 effectual provision for the administrarion of her 
 sacraments and discipline, for her peace, her order, 
 her unity and glory. Almighty God, " th gi\xr 
 of all good gifts, who, of thy d.\ ine Prov de:ice, 
 hast appointed divers orders n hy church, i^ive 
 thv grace, I humbly beseech thee, to all thobe who 
 
 Q2 
 
186 Saturday Morning, 
 
 are called to any office and administration in the 
 same ; and so replenish them with the truth of thy 
 doctrine, and endue them with innocency of life, 
 that they may faithfully serve before thee, to the 
 glory of thy great name, and the benefit of thy holy 
 church." Blessed Jesus, the divine Head and 
 Redeemer of thy mystical body the church, who 
 dost possess " all power in heaven and in earth," 
 may '* the course of this world be so peaceably 
 ordered by thy governance, that thy church may 
 evermore serve thee in peace and quietness." 
 " Clothe thy priests with salvation, that thy people 
 may rejoice." Thy servants, the bishops, in whom 
 is vested, through thy mercy, the power of perpe- 
 tuating in thy church, *' to the end of the world," 
 the divine authority pf the priesthood, evermcjre 
 guide and bless by thy heavenly grace; " that 
 they may lay hands suddenly on no man, but faith- 
 fully and wisely make choice of fit persons to serve 
 in the sacred ministry of thy holy church." To 
 ihem, as well as to all other ministers, the presby- 
 ters and deacons who serve in thy holy sanctuary, 
 give thy " heavenly benediction ; that, both by 
 their life and doctrine, they may set forth thy true 
 and lively word, and rightly and duly administer 
 thy holy sacraments." On me, also, thy unworthy 
 servant, shtd, O merciful God, thy heavenly 
 grace, that, by devoutly attending on the minis- 
 trations of thy priesthood, I may continue in the 
 unity of thy church ; and refreshed and strength- 
 ened by the mercy and grace dispeiised through 
 thy ordinances, may serve thee in holiufss and 
 righteousness all the days of my life, and fii lall} be 
 a partaker of the giory and felicity of thy heavenly 
 kingdom. 
 
Saturday Morning, 18 T 
 
 Almighty God, have mercy upon thy holy 
 church, the spiritual Zion in which thou dost de-^ 
 light to dwell. '* Inspire her continually with the 
 spirit of truth, unity, and concord.** Rebuild thou 
 her waste places; restore her in the beauty of 
 holiness ; unite in her communion all those who 
 call upon thy name ; may they reverence thy power 
 in the persons of the ministering servants of thy 
 church, and endeavour to keep the unity of the 
 spirit in the bond of peace. May the lamp of truths 
 in thy sanctULiry sheddmg divine light, disperse all 
 heresy and error, and its altar ever be attended by 
 devout and holy guests. May the whole of thy 
 dispersed sheep, blessed Jesus, be brought home 
 to thy flock, and united in one fold under thee, the 
 great Shepherd and Bishop of their souls, who 
 livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy 
 Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen, 
 
 SATURDAY EVENING* 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 On the Nature and Benefits of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 And as they -were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke 
 it, and ^ave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat , this is my body. 
 And he took the cup, and s^ave thanks, and gave it to them, saying. 
 Drink ye all of it : For this is my blood of the Jieio testament, which 
 is shed for many for the re nission of sins. \l;ttt xxvi 2'i, 27, 8cc. 
 
 It was in the solemn and interesting hour, 
 when a cruel death was about to separate the 
 blessed Jesus from his disciples, and when 
 sorrow and despondency, in the prospect of 
 losing their beloved Master, had overwhelmed 
 them — that our Saviour instituted a holy rite 
 tQ be the seal of his mercy and grace, and 
 
188 Safurdai/ Evening, 
 
 enjoined it on his disciples, as the Riemoriai 
 of his dying love. Engaged in celebrating 
 the passover, a rite commemorative of the 
 deliverance of the Jeu^s from the wrath of 
 thH destroying angel, he had been offering up 
 the paschal lamb, a memorial of that lamb, 
 whose blood, sprinkled on the houses of the 
 Jeu^s, had been the pledge of their deliver- 
 ance. But the time had arrived when the 
 shadows and types of the law were to be all 
 consummated in the glorious person of the 
 Saviour, whom they had all foreshown, to 
 whom they had all borne witness. Instead 
 of the le^al victim^ he substituted himself as 
 the trui^ paschal lamb, and to avert the wrath 
 of divine justice from a guilty world, offered 
 himself up an all- suffice lent sacrifice to his 
 Almisfhty Father. He took bread, and con- 
 secrated it to be tl'.e symbol of his body, which 
 was to be given for the sins of the world. 
 He blessed the cup of icine, to represent his 
 blood, which was to be shed to atone for sin. 
 He appointed these sacred elements to be the 
 representative symbols of the sacrifice of the 
 cross, the memorial of his precious sufferings 
 and death, by which our redemption was 
 effected. And that the blessings of this 
 sacrifice might be conveyed to his redeemed 
 people to the end of the world, he gave 
 authority to his apostles and their successors to 
 consecrate bread and wine as the memorials 
 of his body and blood ; through the devout 
 participation of which, his humble and penit- 
 
Saturday Evening, 189 
 
 eiit followers should receive all the inestima- 
 ble blescjings of his salvation. 
 
 Ccjiitemplate, O my soul, with holy awe, 
 this sacred mystery ; contemplate, with lively 
 frratitude, the inestimable blessinors which 
 thy {Saviour conveys to thee, through this 
 hallowed ordinance. Christians, uniting with 
 their authorized ministers in the celebration 
 of this holy sacrament, present before God a 
 memorial of that all-sufficient sacrifice which 
 the Saviour made. Receiving with lively 
 faith the consecrated elements, they are made 
 partakers of all those blessings which were 
 purchased hyXh^ offering which Christ made 
 of his sacred body and blood. They are 
 cleansed from sin; they are restored to 
 communion and peace with God ; they are 
 strengthened by the presence and consola- 
 tions of his Holy Spirit; they are preserved 
 by the vivifying body and blood of Christ 
 unto everlasting life. 
 
 Oh! sublime and precious mystery ! Jesus, 
 exalted in glory, condescends to become, by 
 representative symbols, the spiritual food^ 
 support, and strength^ of his people. Sur- 
 rounding this holy table, Christians hear the 
 voice of their blessed Redeemer pronouncing 
 their pardon ; they receive, as it were, from 
 his own hands, the pledges of their salvation, 
 the sacred emblems of his life-crivinor bodv 
 and blood. " As often as they eat this bread 
 and drink this cup, they do show forth the 
 Lord's death till he come," 
 
190 Saturday Eveninir. 
 
 Bless God, O my soul, for his infinite iove 
 in giving his only Son for thy redemption. 
 Bless thy Saviour for graciously condescend- 
 ing to institute a rite, in which, under the 
 most lively and affecting emblems, thou may- 
 esi commemorate his death, and be made 
 partaker of the benefits of his passion. Art 
 tiiou desirous, O my soul, to obtain that peace 
 and happiness which thou hast in vain sought 
 from a disappointing world! Go to the holy 
 suf)per of thy Lord, where he waits to dis- 
 pense to thee a peace which passeth all un- 
 derstanding; which the w'orld can neither 
 give nor take away; which his infinite mercy 
 inspires ; which his almighty grace cherishes ; 
 and which shall flourish for ever under the 
 smiles of his love. Art thou weary and heavy 
 laden, O my soul, under the burden of thy 
 sins, under the oppressing cares and sorrows 
 of the world I Go to the altar, where the 
 arms of thy Redeemer are extended to em- 
 brace thee, to shield thee in his bosom from 
 every guilty pang, and from every corroding 
 sorrow. Do unholy passions invade thy peace ; 
 does temptation overcome thy frail resolu- 
 tions ; does sin defile thee, O my soul, and 
 render thee obnoxious to that God who is of 
 purer eyes than to behold iniquity? Goto 
 the altar, where thy gracious Redeemer sits 
 enthroned, glorious in his power, mighty to 
 save. By his almighty fiat, he will quell the 
 tumult of thy guilty passions; his heavenly 
 grace descending upon thee, will purify thy 
 
Saturday Evening, 191 
 
 affections; will guide thee through all diffi- 
 culries; will arm thee with victorious strength 
 over all temptations. In the imperfect and 
 transitory gratifications of the present life, 
 thou dost in vain seek, O my soul, for that 
 full and substantial enjoyment for which thy 
 aspiring powers ardently pant. Go then to 
 the altar, and receiving with lively faith the 
 pledges of tfiy Saviour's grace and mercy, 
 enjoy a foretaste of that never-ending and 
 ineffable bliss, which, in the kingdom of iiea- 
 ven, thou shalt drink at the everlasting foun- 
 tain of perfection and love. 
 
 Yes, O my God, thy service alone consti- 
 tutes the perfection of my nature ; thy service 
 alone leads to perfect and eternal bliss. I 
 resolve to choose thee, O my God, as my 
 supreme good, my unfailing and satisfying 
 portion. Blessed Jesus, thou who art the 
 only way of access unto the Father, conduct 
 me to the light of his reconciled countenance. 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 O MERCIFUL and i^racious God, the fountain 
 of being and all perfection ; I bless thee that thou 
 hast created me capable of knowing, of loving, 
 and of serving thee. For ever blessed be thy 
 name, that wlien I had wandered from thee, the 
 source of light and felicity, thou didst not give me 
 up to that blindness and misery, which I had 
 courted, and which would have been my merited 
 portion. For ever blessed be thy name, that when, 
 
192 Saturday Evening, 
 
 by my sins, I had provoked thy just displeasure, 
 thou didst, in mercy, forbear to execute upon me 
 the severity of thy awful wrath. Blessed, for ever 
 blessed, O God, be thy holy name, that thou didst 
 even give thy only -begotten and well- beloved Son 
 to suffering and death, to purchase my redemption. 
 Glor}' be for ever ascribed to thee, for the inest- 
 imable gift. O may this display of infinite love 
 awaken in my heart the emotions of lively grati- 
 tude, and penetrate me witli compunction for hav- 
 ing so long neglected thee, my gracious Redeemer 
 and God. Dispose me now to choose thy service 
 as my highest duty, my bupreme dtrlight and enjoy- 
 ment. Blessed Jesus, w ho, by thy precious bl(jod, 
 hast atoned for my sins, and in the powerful grace 
 of thy Holy Spirit, hast provided the means of my 
 redemption, with humble reverence and gratitude 
 I adore thee for thy infinite love, in conveying to 
 me, by sensible pledges, the assurances of thy 
 grace and mercy, in nourishing and strengthening 
 me, under lively emblems, with thy spiritual b(jdy 
 and blood. O may my earnest desires be awa- 
 kened to partake in the holy sacrament of thy - up- 
 per, of thy life-giving body, of thy purifying blood 
 — to seal by them my pardon, my peace, my res- 
 ton'.tion to holiness and eternal felicity. Do thou, 
 O God, awaken, by thy grace, these holy desires, 
 and strengthen my resolutions of serving thee. 
 Dispel the doubts, allay the apprehensions, remove 
 every indolent or sensual pretext, which would de- 
 ter me from receiving the memorials of my Sa- 
 viour's love, the pledges of my eternal salvation. 
 With lively desires, with humble penitence, and 
 stendfast faith, approaching this holy table, may I 
 be accepted and blessed, through Jesus Christ, my 
 Lord and Redeemer. Amen. 
 
Stmday Alonimg. 193 
 
 SUBTDAY MORXOTG. 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 'I'he Dispositions with which the Communicant should advance to the 
 
 Altar. 
 
 Thou hast reviewed, O my soul, thy spi- 
 ritual character, privileges, and hopes. Thou 
 hast sought to lay the foundation of thy pre- 
 paration for the holy eucharist, where, in- 
 deed, the foundation of thy spiritual life 
 should be laid, in a deep conviction of thy 
 fallen and condemned state. Awakened to 
 a sense of thy guilt and unworthiness, thou 
 hast humbled thyself before the throne of 
 God, in the exercises of repentance ; and, 
 having devoted thyself with renewed ardour 
 to his service, hast implored the succours of i 
 his Holy Spirit to enable thee to serve liini 
 in newness of life. Deeply sensible of thy 
 need of the cleansini^ blood and renovating: 
 grace of a Saviour, thou hast sought to secure 
 ^n interest in his merits and favour, by lively 
 faith in him; and hast acknowledged him, in 
 all his exalted offices, as the eternal Son of 
 the Father, thy Prophet, thy Priest, and King. 
 With the fervours of lively gratitude, thou 
 hast traced the series of sufferings which tiiy 
 Saviour endured w^iih divine magnanimity 
 and fortitude; which, while they excited thy 
 exalted admiration, served to confirm tliy 
 faith. Thou hast reviewed the sufferings by 
 which the Saviour at once impressed the 
 humble and forgiving spirit of his Gospel, and 
 .R 
 
194 Stmday Mornm[i. 
 
 made an all-sufficient expiation for thy sins. 
 About to participate of an ordinance which 
 derives all its efficacy from its divine Institu- 
 tor, thou hast attentively considered the im- 
 portant truth, that God conveys his grace and 
 favour through the channel of rites and ordin- 
 ances, administered by a priesthood deriving 
 their authority from the divine Head of the 
 church. Happy art thou, O my soul, if, through 
 divine grace, that holy and spiritual life, which 
 the ;?acred exercises in which thou hast been 
 engaged are calculated to form in thee, has 
 been excited or confirmed. If thou hast sin- 
 cerely sought the mercy and favour of thy God, 
 dismiss now every doubt or apprehension ; and 
 resolve to quicken thy repentance, to confirm 
 thy faith, to animate thy zeal, to seal thy vows 
 of duty in the holy eucharist. Resolve to seek 
 those strenirthening, enlivening, and immortal 
 graces which, in this ordinance, are bestowed 
 upon the penitent and fiiithful soul. 
 
 Consider this sacred rite as a lively and 
 afiectizig memorial of the death of Christ ; 
 and receive the symbols of his sufferings with 
 humble j^f^^iitencc. 
 
 The altar presents an almighty victim, 
 consumed as a sacrifice to divine justice. 
 Call to mind then, at the altar, the affecting 
 truth, that thy wilful rebellion against the 
 righteous authority of God, rendered it neces- 
 sary that the eternal ^on should descend 
 from the throne of his glory, to vindicate and 
 satisfy, by his death, the honour of the divine 
 
Sunday Morning. 195 
 
 government, the claims of divine justice. 
 Behold thy Saviour laid on the cross, as on 
 an altar, where the holiness and justice of 
 an offended God fully satisfied their claims. 
 See his blessed body, innocent and pure as 
 the divine soul which animated it, smitten, 
 scourged, and bruised. Behold issuing from 
 his wounded side that precious blood which 
 purchased the life of the world. Ah ! Jihall 
 I deliberately crucify afresh that sacred body 
 which my sins at first fastened on the cross ? 
 Shall I tear open the wounds which the fury 
 of a barbarous multitude inflicted on the 
 sacred body of the Redeemer of men! Oh! 
 just and heavy will be my condemnation, if, 
 with a heart unsubdued and impenitent, I 
 approach the altar where the Saviour is exhi- 
 bited, sustaining the inflictions of his Father's 
 wrath, and expiating my guilt. 
 
 Tremble, lukewarm and impenitent soul, 
 lest the symbols of the body and blood of that 
 Redeemer, to whose astonishing love thou art 
 insensible, instead of proving the pledges of 
 divine favour, seal the sentence of condemna- 
 tion on ihy ingratitude and contempt. Yes, 
 the altar displays only terror and wrath to the 
 impenitent. But to the humble spirit, who is 
 oppressed by the anxious apprehension that 
 she does not yet possess that lively contrition, 
 and fervent affection, which would render her 
 worthy to partake of the supper of the Lord — 
 to her, the altar conveys the consoling accents 
 of mercy. The very fears that oppress thee. 
 
196 Simday Monnng* 
 
 timid and doubting penitent, are the strongest 
 proofs of an exquisite sensibility to the claims 
 of tliy Saviour's love ; they are the best evi- 
 dence that thou dost possess that meek and 
 fcontrite spirit, which it is the Saviours otlice 
 and delight to sooth and comfort. 
 
 Behold then, my soul, in the sufferings and 
 death of Christ, commemorated on the altar, 
 both an exhibition of the indignation of God 
 agairist sin, and of the infinite compassion of 
 the Son of God, in offering himself up an all- 
 sufficient victim to turn from thee the wrath 
 bf heaven. Let this view excite a holy soli- 
 citude to escape the penalties due to thy sins 
 •—a lively and ingenuous sorrow for their 
 baseness and enormity. Humbled at the feet 
 t)f the Saviour, confess, lament, and renounce 
 the sins which occasioned his sufferings — 
 lay them on the altar of his love — they shall 
 be blotted out for ever by his precious blood, 
 ^Vh ch taketh away the sins of the world. 
 
 Receive the symbols of the Saviour's suf- 
 fering and death with \\vc\y gratitude. 
 
 This ordinance, by forcibly displaying the 
 agonizing sufferings of the Saviour, serves to 
 excite the most lively sense of his infinite 
 love. Suilerings and agony inconceivable 
 the Son of God encountered, to redeem the 
 wretched race of man. From the manger at 
 Bethlehem to the hill of Calvary, poverty, 
 contumely, scorn, persecution, like indignant 
 waves, pressed upon him, till at length his 
 soul sunk under the floods of divine wrath. 
 
 I 
 
Sunday Morning, 197 
 
 Ah ! we shall not wonder at the bitter agonies 
 which overwhelmed him, when we consider 
 the tremendous conflict which he sustained 
 with the king of terrors ; who, dreading the 
 near dissolution of his reign, exerted his 
 most vigorous efforts to crush the almighty 
 Conqueror, who threatened to bind him in 
 chains. Oh ! what pangs convulsed the Sa- 
 viour, when on the cross he bowed under the 
 load of human guilt ! Forsaken in this dark 
 hour by the smiles of his Father's love, which 
 had hitherto supported him, he uttered the 
 piercing cry, " My God, my God, why hast 
 thou forsaken me 1" In this direful moment 
 dismay seized the bosom of nature, which 
 heaved in dreadful agitation, as if in unison 
 with the groan that terminated the agonies 
 of the Lord of life. O my soul, for thee the 
 Redeemer sunk under these accumulated 
 agonies. Shall not the symbols of his suffer- 
 ings excite the ardent emotions of gratitude 
 to him who displayed for thee this infinite 
 love] By this compassionate Saviour, thou 
 hast been redeemed from the dominion of 
 sin and death — from everlasting misery and 
 wo. By the sacrifice of his death, thou art 
 restored to the favour of God, and to the 
 glorious hope of the bliss of heaven. The 
 inestimable blessings which he purchased for 
 thee, thou art called to acknowledge in the 
 afiecting rite which he instituted, when the 
 painful death awaited him, that was to con- 
 summate his Bufferings. Oh ! let the tears 
 
 R3 
 
198 Sunday Morning, 
 
 of devout gratitude be shed over the emblems 
 of thy Saviours dying love. 
 
 Offer to thy blessed Redeemer, at the altar, 
 TOWS of ardent devotion to his service. 
 
 Redeeming thee, O my soul, by the sacrifice 
 of his cross, from the ignominious bondage 
 of sin and Satan, from the curse of eternal 
 death ; and purchasing for thee the inestima- 
 ble blessings of pardon, peace, and everlast- 
 ing life, he establishes a supreme claim to 
 thy homage, thy love, and obedience. He 
 becomes thy rightful Sovereign, Lord, and 
 Master. He can claim thy sincere and holy 
 obedience as a right ; thou art bound to ren- 
 der it to him as a just debt of gratitude and 
 love. By ardent devotion to his service ; by 
 generous, tender, and active love to mankind, 
 whom he died to redeem ; thou must mani- 
 fest thy sensibility to his infinite compassion, 
 and discharge the obligations by which thou 
 art bound to him. No period can be more 
 proper to offer to the Saviour the vows of 
 love and duty than the period when thou art 
 commemorating the infinite sacrifice of his 
 precious death, which was the price of thy 
 redemption. Consider the state of guilt, of 
 condemnation, and misery, to which sin had 
 reduced thee. Contemplate the exalted bless- 
 ings of that spiritual redemption which the 
 Saviour wrought for thee. The pangs of 
 guilt he hath exchanged for the comforts of 
 a good conscience ; the apprehensions of 
 the wrath of God, for the joys of ihe divine 
 
Sunday Morning. 199. 
 
 favour ; the curse of a mortal and perishing 
 body, for a body incorruptible and glorious; 
 the sorrows and trials of this mortal life, for 
 the bliss and glories of an immortal existence. 
 The almighty grace and love which achieved 
 this glorious redemption, and which still as- 
 sure it to the humble and penitent, are set 
 forth in the commemorative sacrifice of the 
 eucharist. Go then, my soul, to the festival 
 which celebrates this infinite love of the 
 Saviour, adoring his infinite compassion ; 
 triumphing in the glorious victories of his 
 grace; rendering to him who bought thee by 
 his blood the vows of allegiance and duty. 
 Let the precious symbols of the altar, the 
 lively memorials of the victorious love of the 
 Saviour, impress upon thee his claims to thy 
 sincere and holy obedience. Over the em* 
 blems of his body and blood, oflfered for thy 
 redemption, seal the grateful vows of duty, 
 which shall hind thee for ever to thy Lord. 
 Almighty Redeemer, purchased by thy blood, 
 to thee 1 wholly surrender myself. All the 
 powers of my soul, all its desires and hopes, 
 shall be engaged in thy service, and centre 
 in thy love. Ah ! shall I be reluctant in the 
 service of a Master, with whom I am con- 
 nected by the most endearing tiesl Shall I 
 murmur at the sacrifices to which that Re- 
 deemer calls me, who, in effectincr my re- 
 demption, was deterred by no difficulties, and 
 shrunk fr<jm no pains ! No, my Saviour, the 
 constrainmg power of thy love shall render 
 
200 Sunday Morning, 
 
 easy to me all thy commands, and even endear 
 to me the self-denial and ignominy of thy 
 cross. Receiving the symbol of thy crucified 
 body, the glorious pledge of my redemption, 
 I will vow thee eternal allegiance. Receiving 
 the symbol of thy precious blood, the divine 
 fountain of life and bliss, I will devote myself 
 to thee, O my Saviour, who knowest the 
 weakness of my heart, and its proneness to 
 forget thee; strengthen me to perform the 
 resolutions by which I now enlist under thy 
 banner, and attach myself to thy service. 
 
 Advance to the altar, relying supremely on 
 the merits and grace of that Saviour whose 
 all-sufficient sacrifice for sin thou art to com- 
 memorate. 
 
 There is no other name, but the name of 
 Jesus, whereby the perishing race of man can 
 be saved. His infinite sacrifice, the meritori- 
 ous propitiation for sin, is commemorated in 
 the holy eucharist, where he is set forth as the 
 all-sufficient Saviour of his people. To set up 
 any claim of forgiveness in opposition to the 
 all-sufficient atonement which he made ; to 
 rely for acceptance at tlie throne of God on 
 our own merits, when he offers his all-perfect 
 righteousness to sanctify and save us — would 
 be to derogate from the infinite efficacy of 
 his precious blood, and to dishonour that all- 
 perfect righteousness, which alone can answer 
 the claims of divine holiness. Ah ! when I 
 contemplate the terrors which issue from the 
 throne of my offended Judge, I bless thee, O 
 
Sunday Morning, 201 
 
 uiy Saviour, that I can flee for refage to thy 
 protecting bosom — 1 bless thee, that, in the 
 holy sacrament of thy love, thou dost apply 
 to me the saving merits of thy body, given 
 for my sins ; and dost sprinkle my guilty soul 
 with the precious blood that was shed for my 
 redemption. 
 
 Go then, O my soul, to the altar where the 
 emblems of the body and blood of the Saviour 
 are set forth as the pledges of mercy and 
 spiritual life ; renouncing every dependence 
 but the merits and grace of thy Redeemer. 
 Unworthy so much as to gather up the crumbs 
 under his table, go, and derive pardon, com- 
 fort, strength, and salvation, at the banquet of 
 his precious body and blood. Go — earnestly 
 desiring his mercy, and adoring him as thy 
 all-sufficient :Saviour ; and he will confer on 
 thee the everlasting treasures of his love. 
 However great the attainments which through 
 his grace thou hast made in virtue, rely not 
 on them as the pledges of thy peace with 
 heaven, when thou dost behold the all-suffi- 
 cient sacrifice of his cross. In the blood of 
 Jesus, set forth in this holy sacrament, thou 
 wilt find the only expiation of thy guilt ; from 
 the fountain of grace there opened, are spi- 
 ritual life and consolation dispensed. Seated 
 on the altar, as an almighty and compassionate 
 Saviour, he presents to the faithful, through 
 his authorized Tninisters, the symbols of his 
 body and blood given and shed for them. 
 Take, eat, this is my body, which was given 
 
202 Sunday Mornings 
 
 for you — let it be the pledge of your salva- 
 tion, of your vital union with me, your Re- 
 deemer. Drink — this is my blood, which was 
 shed for you — let it be the fountain of pardon, 
 of comfort, of everlasting joys. Wonder, O 
 my soul, at the riches of the Saviour's mercy! 
 Wonder, O my soul, at the fulness of his 
 grace ! Go, ye faithful, to the altar, where 
 Jesus is waiting to receive you, triumphing in 
 his mercy, his power, and his love. Wounded 
 with a sense of guilt, go, and receive the bahn 
 of divine mercy, with which the Saviour pa- 
 cifies the awakened conscience. Labouring 
 under the thraldom of sinful passions, go, and 
 receive grace to overcome their dominion. 
 Desponding and sorrowing under the trials 
 of your pilgrimage, go, and receive from your 
 Saviour celestial comfort. Humble, weak, 
 and perishing, go, and receive strength, sup- 
 port, everlasting life — go, and embrace by 
 faith that blessed Redeemer who hath pro- 
 mised to visit his people with his salvation, 
 to dwell with them as their guide, their com- 
 forter, their everlasting portion and reward. 
 Yes, my Saviour, encouraged by the soli- 
 citations of thy love, I will go to thy altar, 
 and commemorate with the faithful the riches 
 of thy mercy ; with them implore the mani- 
 festations of thy grace. When I receive the 
 sacred emblems of thy body and blood, O do 
 thou manifest thyself to my soul. Come, and 
 reign in me for ever, my Saviour, my Lord^ 
 my Almighty King. 
 
Sunday Morning. 205 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 Blessed Jesus, who hast given thyself to be 
 the life of the world ; and hast graciously instituted 
 the sacrament of thy holy supper, to be a lively 
 memorial of thy infinite love, and pledge of thy 
 grace and mercy ; behold me, thy unworthy ser- 
 vant, waiting upon thee for pardon, for strength, 
 and salvation — Lead me, O my Saviour, to thy 
 altar, and there display thyself to my soul, in the 
 glorious fulness of thy mercy and power. 
 
 " I do not presume to come to this thy table, O 
 Lord, trusting in my own righteousness, but in 
 thy manifold and great mercies." Sin has defiled 
 my soul ; has laden with guilt my conscience ; has 
 rendered me utterly unworthy of thy favour ; has 
 exposed me to thy just c.nd everlasting wrath. 
 Blessed be thy name, O Lord, that in thee there is 
 mercy and plenteous redemption. Humbly con- 
 fessing my unworthiness and guilt, and casting my- 
 self on thy infinite compassion, O do thou convey 
 to me, in thy holy supper, the forgiveness of my 
 sins, my title to thy love and everlasting favour. 
 To thy service I desire to devote myself — to thee, 
 
 my God, I vow steadfast obedience and horn* 
 ;ige. O accept me at thy holy table as thy devoted 
 servant and subject. Seal to my soul the blessings 
 of the everlasting covenant. Thee, O my Saviour, 
 
 1 adore as my Lord and my God. To thy celestial 
 instructions I will evermore hearken; to thy all- 
 sufficient atonement I will evermore flee ; to the 
 sceptre of thy grace I will evermore willingly bow. 
 Receive and acknowledge me, blessed Jesus, at thy 
 holy table, among the number of thy redeemed 
 people. I bless thee for the infinite love which 
 jhou hast displayed in my redemption — for the an- 
 
204 Sunday Morning, 
 
 utterable sufferings and agonizing death which 
 were the price of my ransom from guilt and con- 
 demnation. Glory be to thee, O thou Lamb of 
 God, who takest away the sins of the world. May 
 my grateful sense of thy infinite compassion be 
 manifested by sincere devotion to thy commands; 
 by lively and active charity to all mankind, for 
 whom thou didst shed thy blood. Thus confess- 
 ing my sins ; steadfastly purposing to lead a new 
 life ; relying supremely on thy merits and grace ; 
 thankfully celebrating thy meritorious sufferings 
 and death ; and cherishing the sentiments of lively 
 and ardent love — may I approach thy holy altar, 
 and experience the quickening efficacy of thy body 
 and blood. May they shed through my soul their 
 consoling, renovating, and strengthening power, 
 and nourish me to everlasting life. May these 
 symbols of thy love afford my soul a rich foretaste 
 of the exalted bliss which the fruition of thy glo- 
 rious presence will afford. 
 
 O most gracious God, measure thy blessings to 
 me, not by my deserts, but by thy infinite mercies. 
 Shed now the full power of thy Holy Spirit through 
 my heart, that all my affections and desires may be 
 in lively exercise when I approach thy holy altar. 
 There may I enjoy the manifestations of thy mercy 
 — there may I experience that thou art infinitely 
 gracious — that truly blessed are they who put their 
 trust in thee. And oh! may the exalted joys of 
 thy love, shed through my soul at thy holy table, 
 awaken my ardent desires for the glorious consum- 
 mation of bliss in thy heavenly kingdom, where 
 there is fulness of joy ; where there are pleasures 
 for evermore. Even so, O my God, for the sake 
 of Jesus Christ, my Lord ?nd Redeemer. Amen, 
 
205 
 
 THE ORDER FOR THL 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER, 
 
 OB 
 
 HOLY COMMUXIOX. 
 
 r^ The excellent and affecting; office for the Holy Communion, prescrib- 
 ed by the Church, is the best guide to his devotions at the altar that 
 the coruinnnicant can possibly have, and renders almost unnecfssarj- 
 all other nid. It should be the business of the corainuuicant seriously 
 to attend to this service, and hesirtily and sincerely to join in it. As 
 he goes up towards the chancel, let him secretly use the following 
 ejaculations: 
 
 In the multitude of thy mercies, O Lord, do I now 
 approach thine ahar. 
 
 I will pay thee my vows now in the presence of all 
 thy people. 
 
 Thou art my God, and i will bless thee ; thou art 
 my God, and I will exalt thee. 
 
 God is the Lord, by whom we receive light; bind 
 the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar. 
 
 % When the minister reads the sentences of the OfFertorv, let the com- 
 municant offer up after each sentence, the short ejaculation annexed.! 
 
 IF When there is a communion, the minister shall return to the Lord's 
 table, and begin the Offertory, saying one or more of these sentences 
 following, as he thinkeih most convenient. 
 
 Let your light so shine before men, that they may 
 see your good works, and glorify )our Father which 
 is in heaven. St, Matt, v. 16. 
 
 [O Almighty God, give me grace to honour 
 thee by a life of hoKness and active charity ; and 
 may those who are the objects of my beneficence, 
 render their {^raises to thee, the gracious Father 
 and Benefactor of mankind.] 
 
 S 
 
20-6 The Administration of 
 
 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, 
 where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves 
 break through and steal : But lay up for yourselves 
 treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth 
 corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor 
 steal. Si. Matt, vi. 19, 20. 
 
 [Free my soul, O God, from the inordinate 
 love of riches ; and dispose me earnestly to seek 
 the satisfying treasures of thy heavenly kingdom.] 
 
 Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, 
 even so do to them : For this is the law and the pro- 
 phets. St, Matt. vii. 12. 
 
 [Give me grace, O God, ever sacredly to ob- 
 serve this rule of eternal justice.] 
 
 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, 
 shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that 
 doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Sf. 
 Matt. vii. 21. 
 
 [Grant, O God, that I may never build my hope 
 of salvation upon an outward profession only, with- 
 out a life of holiness cmd virtue, — May my faith in 
 thy name produce the fruit of good living.] 
 
 Zaccheus stood forth, and said unto the Lord, Be- 
 hold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; 
 and if 1 have done any wrong to any man, I restore 
 four- fold. St. Lukt xix. 8. 
 
 [If thou, O Lord, hast given me ability, give 
 me a disposition also to be both just and charitable, 
 that thou ma} est say to me, as thou didst to this 
 publican, Salvation is come to thy house,'] 
 
 Who goeth a warfare at any time at his own cost ? 
 Who planteth a vineyard, anri eateth not of the fruit 
 thereof? or who fecdeth a floi k, and eateth not of the 
 milk of the flock? 1 Cor. ix. 7. 
 
the Holy Communion, 207 
 
 [O God, may I cheerfully and readily give a 
 portion of my worldly substance to the support of 
 the servants of thy sanctuary, who labour in spi- 
 ritual things.] 
 
 If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a 
 great matter if we shall reap your worldly things ? 
 1 Cor, ix. II. 
 
 [May I evermore endeavour, by every mean in 
 my power, to promote the temporal comfort and 
 hjqjpiness of those who devote their time and their 
 talents to ministering to my spiritual necessities.] 
 
 Do ye not know, that they who minister about holy 
 things, live of the sacrifice; and they who wait at the 
 altar, are partakers with the altar ? Even so hath 
 the Lord also ordained, that they who preach the 
 Gospel, should live of the Gospel. 1 Cor, ix. 13, 14, 
 
 [Since thou, O Lord, hast thus ordained — far 
 be it from me to withhold from thy ministers the 
 maintenance which is their just and inviolable 
 due.] 
 
 He that soweth little, shall reap little ; and he that 
 soweth plentequsly, shall reap plenteouslj. Let every 
 man do according as he is disposed in his heart, not 
 grudgingly or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful 
 giver. 2 Cor. ix, 6, 7, 
 
 [May I ever proportion my alms to my ability, 
 lest I provoke God to proportion his blessings to 
 my alms,] 
 
 Let him that is taught in the word, minister unto 
 him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived 
 God is not mocked : For whatsoever a man soweth, 
 that shall he reap, GaL vi. 6, 7. 
 
 [There is no return, O God, which we can 
 make to thy ministers, equal to the blessings which 
 
208 The Administration of 
 
 the}^ bestow upon us : For they minister unto us 
 tht means of grace and salvation,] 
 
 While we have lime, let us do good unto all men ; 
 and especially unto them that are of the household of 
 faith. Gal, vi. lO. 
 
 [Blessed be God, that I have yet time! Lord, 
 give me a heart to do good before the night comethy 
 XV hen no man can 'work.~\ 
 
 Godliness is great riches, if a man be content with 
 that he hath : For we brought nothing into the world, 
 neither may we carry any thing out. 1 Tim. vi. 6, 7. 
 
 [Grant me, O God, 2i pious and contented mmdi ; 
 and for the rest — thy will be done!'] 
 
 Charge them who are rich in this world, that they 
 be ready to give, and glad to distribute ; laying up in 
 store for themselves a good foundation against the 
 time to come, that they may attain eternal life. 1 
 Tim. vi. 17, 18, ly. 
 
 [If thou hast given n;e riches, O God, grant 
 me grace to employ them in works of beneficence 
 and mercy, that thus they may be instrumental in 
 advancing my eternal felicity.] 
 
 God is not unrighteous, that he will forget your 
 works, and labour ihat proceedeth of love; which 
 love ye have showed for his name's sake, who have 
 ministered unto the saints, and yet do minister. Htb, 
 vi. 10. 
 
 [O blessed Lord, how great is thy goodness ! 
 All that I have is thine ; and yet thou dost conde- 
 scend to receive every act of charity to thy saints 
 and servants, as if it were done unto thyself] 
 
 To do good and to distribute, forget not ; for with 
 such sacrifices God is well pleased, Heb» xiii. 16. 
 
the Holy Communion, 20& 
 
 [May our prayers and our alms ascend unto thee, 
 O God ; and do thou graciously accept them for 
 Jesus Christ's sake.] 
 
 Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother 
 hav« need, and shutteth up his connpassion from him, 
 how dwelleth the love of God in him ? 1 John iii. 
 J 7. 
 
 [O my God and Saviour ! may I ever manifest 
 my love and gratitude to thee, by acts of benefi- 
 cence and kindness to my fellow men.] 
 
 Give alms of thy goods, and never turn thy face 
 from any poor man ; and then the face of the Lord 
 shall not be turned away from thee. Tob, iv. 7. 
 
 [Grant me, O Lord, a lively compassion for 
 the miseries of others, that thou mayest finally have 
 compassion on me.] 
 
 Be merciful after thy power. If thou hast much, 
 give plenteously. If thou hast little, do thy diligence 
 gladly to give of that little : for so gatherest thou thy- 
 self a good reward, in the day of necessity. Tob, iv. 
 C, 9. 
 
 [I thank thee, O God, that thou dost not judge 
 or reward according to the greatness of the gift, 
 but according to the disposition and ability of the 
 giver. And after all, thy rewards infinitely exceed 
 the merits of our most exahed acts of virtue.] 
 
 He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth to the 
 Lord : and look, what he layelh out, it shall be paid 
 him again. Prov, xix. 17. 
 
 [Blessed be thy name, O God, that thou dost 
 vouchsafe to regard my beneficence to the poor as 
 a favour rendered unto thyself; and dost graciously 
 promise to repay me from the exhaustless treasure 
 of thine infinite mercies.] 
 
 S2 
 
310 The Administration of 
 
 Blessed be the man that provideth for the sick and 
 neodj : the Lord shall deliver him in the time of 
 trouble. Psalm xli. 1. 
 
 [O Lord, may I carefully avoid all idle and vain 
 expenses, that 1 may ihus be always able to admin- 
 ister to the consolation and support of the stck and 
 needy. May a principle of di\'ine charity and love 
 evermore animate and inspire me, that thus, in time 
 of trouble, in the hour of death, and in the day of 
 judgment, I may with confidence flee to thee as 
 my refuge and my portion. 
 
 % Ejaculation to be used at offering our alms. 
 
 O Lord, from the bounties of thy Providence 
 Avith which thou hast crowned my lot, I cheerfully 
 and humbly devote a portion to the service of thy 
 altar — to the relief and comfort of the distressed 
 members of Christ's mystical body. To thee 
 be all the glor\' and all the praise, through Jesus 
 Christ. Ameru'] 
 
 •1 Whilst these sentences are in reading, the deacons, church-wardens, or 
 other fit p sons appointed rbr that purpose, shall receive the alms for 
 the poor, and oiher devotions of the people, in a decent bason, to be 
 provided bv the parish for that purpose; and reverently bring it tothe 
 priest, who shall humbly present and place it upon the hoi} table. 
 
 ■^•j Before the prayer for Christ's church militant, if an opportunity offer, 
 use the following pr.'jer: 
 
 Saviour of the world ! I come to thy altar to 
 commemorate thy dying love; to plead the merits 
 of thy cross and passion ; to testit) my unshaken 
 faith in thee ; my communion with thy holy church ; 
 my charity with all mankind. Blessed Jesus ! 
 who hast called me to the participation of the sa- 
 cred mysteries of thy altar, guide and aid me in 
 my de\otions ; quicken my repentance ; animate 
 my faich and gratitude; fix my contemplations on 
 the eternal glories of thy mercy and grace. Nour- 
 
the Holy Communion. 211 
 
 ished and strengthened by the sacred symbols of 
 thy body and blood, may both my soul and body 
 be prepared tor that everlasting life which thou hast 
 purchased by thy merits ; and which thou dost 
 bestow on all those who believe in thy saving 
 name, and rely alone on thy mercy and power. 
 Even so, blessed Jesus. Amen.'^ 
 
 % And the priest shall then place upon the table so much bread and wine 
 as he shall think sufficient. After which done, he shall saj, 
 
 Let us pray for the whole state of Christ's church 
 militant. 
 
 Almighty and everhving God, who, by thy holy 
 apostle, hast taught us to make pra}'ers and supplica- 
 tions, and to give thanks for all men; we humbly be- 
 seech thee most inejxifull) [_*to accept our alms und 
 oblations^ und] to receive these our pra} ers, whu h we 
 otfer unto i\\) Divine Majesty; beseeching thee to 
 inspire continually the universal church with the 8pirit 
 of truth, unit), and concord ; and grant that all those 
 who do confess thy holy name, may agree in the truth 
 of thy holy word, and live in unity and godly love.' 
 We beseech thee also, so to direct and dispose the 
 hearts of all Christian rulers, that they may truly and 
 impartially administer justice to the punishment of 
 wickedness and vice, and to the maintenance of thy 
 true religion and virtue. Give grace, O heavenly 
 Father, to all bishops and other ministers, that ihey 
 may, both b) their life and doctrine, set forth thy true 
 and lively word, and rightly and duly administer thy 
 holy sacraments. And to all thy people give thy hea- 
 venly grace ; and especially to this congiegation here 
 present; that with meek heart, and due reverence, 
 they may hear and receive th\ holy word ; truly 
 serving thee in holiness and righteousness all the days 
 of their life. And we most humbly beseech ihee, of 
 
 • If there be no alms or oblations, then shall the words {to accept our 
 atmt and oblations^ and) be left unsaid. 
 
212 The Administration of 
 
 thy goodness, O Lord, to comfort and succour all those 
 who, in this transitory hfe, are in trouble, sorrow, 
 need, sickness, or any other adversity. And we also 
 bless thy holy name, for all thy servants departed this 
 life in thy faith and fear ; beseeching thee to give us 
 grace so to follow their good examples, that with 
 them we may be partakers of thy heavenly kingdom : 
 Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our 
 only Mediator and Advocate. Amen, 
 
 ^ At the time of the celebration of the communion, the priest shall say 
 this exhortation. 
 
 \^% During this exhortation, the communicants should stand. Afterwards, 
 at th»' confession, they are required to kneel. J 
 
 Dearly beloved in the Lord, ve who mind to come 
 to the holy communion of the body and blood of our 
 Saviour Christ, must consider how St. Paul exhorteth 
 all persons diligently to try and examine themselves, 
 before they presume to eat of that bread, and drink 
 of that cup. For as the benefit is great, if with a true 
 penitent heart and lively failh, we receive that holy 
 sacrament; so is the danger ereat, if we receive the 
 same unworthily. Judge, therefore, yourselves, bre- 
 thren, that ve be not judged of the Lord ; repent ye 
 truly for your sins past ; have a lively and steadfast 
 faith in Christ our Saviour ; amend your lives, and be 
 in perfect charity with ail men : so shall ye be meet 
 partakers of those holy mysteries. And above all 
 things, ye must give most humble and hearty thanks 
 to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, for 
 the redemption of the world by the death and passion 
 of our Saviour Christ, both God and man; who did 
 humble hfmself even to the death upon the cross, for 
 us miserable sinners, who lay in darkness and the 
 shadow of death; that he might make us the children 
 of God, and exalt us to everlasting life. And to the 
 end that we should always remember the exceeding 
 great love of our Master and only Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, thus dying for us, and the ianuinerable benefits 
 
the Holy Communioiu 2 IS 
 
 which by his precious blood-shedding he hath obtained 
 for us, he hath instituted and ordanjed holy mysteries, 
 as pledges of his love, and (or a continjal remem- 
 brance of his dealh, to our great and endless comlort. 
 To him, therefore, with the Father, and the Holy- 
 Ghost, let us give (as we are most bounden) continual 
 thanks ; submitting ourselves wholly to his ho^y will, 
 and pleasure, and studying to serve him in true holi- 
 ness and righteousness, all the days of our life. Amen, 
 
 ^ Then shall the priest say to those who come to i^ceive the holy 
 communion, 
 
 Ye who do truly ajid earnestly repent you of your 
 sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbours, 
 and intend to lead a new life, following the command- 
 ments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy 
 ways^ draw near with faith, and take this holy sacra- 
 ment to your comfort ; and make your humble con- 
 fession to Almighty God, devoutly kneeling. 
 
 % Then shall this general confession be made by the priest and all thos« 
 who are mindnd to receive the holy communion, humbly kneeling: 
 
 Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 Maker of all things, Judge of all men ; we acknow- 
 ledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, 
 which we from time to time most grievously hav© 
 committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy 
 divine Majesty; provoking most justly thy wrath and 
 indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, and 
 are heartily sorry tor these our misdoings ; the re- 
 membrance of them is grievous unto us ; the burden 
 of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, have 
 mercy upon us, most merciful Father; for thy Son 
 our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, forgive us all that is 
 past ; and grant, that we may ever hereafter serve 
 and please thee in newness of life, to the honour and 
 glory of thy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 Amen. 
 
 ^ Then shall the priest (the bishop, if he be present,) stand up, an<' 
 turning to the people, sa), 
 
214 The Administration of 
 
 Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who of his 
 great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all 
 those who with hearty repentance and true faith turn 
 unto him, have mercy upon you ; pardon and dehver 
 you from all your sins; confirm and strengthen you 
 in all goodness; and bring you to everlasting life, 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, 
 
 {_^ After the absolution is pronouneed, to which you should attentively 
 and devoutly listen, as the declaration of God through his authorized 
 servant, use the following short ejaculation : 
 
 May this absolution, O God, seal to my soul 
 the forgiveness of my sins.] 
 
 ^ Then shall the priest say, 
 
 Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ 
 saith unto all who truly turn to him. 
 
 [% After each of the following sentences use the short ejaculations 
 aunexed.3 
 
 Come unto me, all ye that travel and are heavy 
 laden, and I will refresh you. St, Matt, xi. 28. 
 
 [Make me, O Jesus, truly sensible of my guilt 
 and unvvorthiness ; that oppressed with the bur- 
 den of my sins, I may go to thee for rest and de- 
 liverance.] 
 
 So God loved the world, that he gave his only- 
 begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him 
 should not perish, but have everlasting life. St, John 
 iii. 16. 
 
 £0 Lord, I believe — increase and establish my 
 faith ; that, ever loving and serving thee, I may 
 finally, through thy mercy, be made partaker of 
 everlasting glory.] 
 
 Hear also what St, Paul saith. 
 
 This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be 
 received, that Christ Jesus came into the world to 
 save sinners. 1 Tim. i. 15. 
 
the Holy Communion, 215 
 
 [I bless thee, O Jesus, who, moved by infinite 
 compassion, didst come into the world to save 
 sinners.] 
 
 Hear also what Si* John saith. 
 
 If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Fa- 
 ther, Jesus Christ the righteous ; and he is the propi- 
 tiation for our sins. I John ii. 1, 2. 
 
 [O blessed Jesus, by thy blood and merits, by 
 thy powerful intercession, procure my pardon and 
 deliverance from the guilt and condemnation of 
 sin.] 
 
 ^ After which the priest shall proceed, saying, 
 
 Lift up your hearts. 
 
 Answer. We hft them up unto the Lord. 
 Priest, Let us give thanks unto our Lord God, 
 Answer, It is meet and right so to do. 
 
 ^ Then shall the priest turn to the Lorri's table, and say, 
 
 It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that 
 we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks 
 unto thee, O Lord, [*Holy Father,] almighty, ever- 
 lasting God. 
 
 ^ Here shall follow the proper preface, according to the time, if there 
 he any specially appointed ; or else immediately shall be said or sung by 
 the priest and people : 
 
 \_^ Here the communicants should rise from their knees, and stand. 
 Standing is the proper posture for tl>e ascription of praise.] 
 
 Therefore with angels and archangels, and with 
 all the company of heaven, we laud and magnifv thy 
 glorious name ; evermore praising thee, and sa\nig, 
 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts, heaven and 
 earth are full of thy glory : Glory be to the^, O Lord 
 Most High. Amen, 
 
 • These words \_H0ly Father"] must he omitted on Trinity Sunday. 
 
216 The Administration of 
 
 H PROPER PREFACES. 
 
 ^ L'pon ChrJstmas.-day, and seven days after. 
 
 Because thou did?«t give Jesus Christ, thine only 
 Son, to be born as at this time for us ; who, b) the 
 operation of the Holy Ghost, was made very man, of 
 the substance of the Virgin Mary his mother; and 
 that without spot of sin, to make us clean from all sin : 
 Therefore with angels, &;c. 
 
 T Upon Easter-day, and seven days after. 
 
 But chiefly are we bound to praise thee for the 
 glorious resurrection of thy Son Jesus Christ our 
 Jjord: For he is the very Paschal Lamb, which was 
 offeied for us, and hath taken away the sin of the 
 world ; who by his death hath destroyed death, and, 
 by his riting to life again, halh restored to us everlast- 
 ing life • Therefore with angels, &c. 
 
 '^\ Upon Ascension -da}, and seven days after. 
 
 Through th} m<»st dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ 
 our Lord ; who, after his most glorious resurrection, 
 manifestly appeared to all his apostles, and in iheir 
 sight ascended up into heaven, to prepare a plat e for 
 us; that where he is, thither we might also ascend, 
 and reign with him in glory : Therefore with angels, 
 he* 
 
 % upon Whit-Sunday, and sbc days after. 
 
 Through Jesu? Christ our Lord ; according to 
 whose n»ost true promise, the Holy Ghost came down 
 as at this time from heaven, with a sudden great 
 sound, as it had been a mighty wind, in the likeness 
 of fiery tongues, lighting upon the apostles, to teach 
 them, aiul to lead them to all truth; giving them both 
 the gift of divers languages, and also boldness with 
 fervent zeal, constantly to preach the Gospel ujito all 
 nations ; whereby we have been brought out of dark- 
 ness and error, into the. clear light and true knowledge 
 of thee, and of thy Son Jesus Christ : Therefore with 
 angels, «Sz;c. 
 
ihe Holy Communion. 217 
 
 ^ Upon the Feast of Trinity only, may be said. 
 
 Who art one God, one Lord ; not only one person, 
 but three persons in one substance : For that which 
 we believe of the glory of the Father, the same we 
 believe of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, without 
 any difference or inequality: Therefore with angels, 
 &c. 
 
 f Or else this may Le said, the words ^Holy Father] being retained in 
 the introductory address. 
 
 For the precious death and merits of thy Son Jesus 
 Christ our Lord, and for the sending to us of the Holy 
 Ghost the Comforter ; who are one with thee in th^ 
 eternal Godhead: Therefore with angels, &lq. 
 
 1 Then shall the priest, kneeling down at the Lord's table, say, in the 
 name of all those who shall receive the communion, this prayer follow- 
 ing: 
 
 £T In this most affecling and solemn form of humiliation, the communi- 
 cants acknowledge, through the minister, their great unwni-ihlness, and 
 the unmerited mercy of God, in admitting them to his holy table. In 
 this act of humiliation, every communicant should secretly jcjin with 
 iively fervour and devotion, kneeling.] 
 
 We do not presume to come to this thy table, O 
 merciful Lord, trusting in our own ritjhteousness, but 
 in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not wor- 
 thy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy 
 table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property 
 is always to have mercy : Grant us therefore, gracious 
 Lord, so to eat the i!esh of thy dear Son Jesus Chribt, 
 and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be 
 made clean by his body, and our souls washed through 
 his most precious blood, and that we may evermore 
 dwell in him, and he in us. Ameiu 
 
 L^ The prayer of conseGration now follows; and while the priest is en^ 
 gaged in the solemn act of consecrating the bread and wine, the com- 
 municant should fix his devout affections on his Saviour, w hose iilood is 
 an all-sufficient pi-opitialion for the sins of the worM. When the Lread 
 is broke •, call to mind the grief and agony of him ivho ivas lodiLiuied 
 for on- trnns^ressions, and bruised for our tniguities. When the 
 tup of'^^ine is blessed, think of him who, under the weight of our sins, 
 ^we:«t great drops of blood, and on the cross made his soul a7i offering 
 Jar sin. When the consecrated bread j^nd wine are offered to God as 
 a memorial of the one great sacrifice of Chiist, bless the Almighty 
 
 T 
 
218 The Administration of 
 
 Father who gave his Son for the sins of offending man, and who, 
 through Christ, is reconciling the world unto himself. When the 
 power of Divine Grace is invoked on the holy elements, devoutly adore 
 and bless the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, who applies to 
 the soul the mercies of redemption. And let the surrender which you 
 make of yourself to the service of God, your Creator, Redeemer, and 
 Sanctifier, be sincere, ardent, and universal. J 
 
 ^ When the priest, standing before the table, hath go ordered the bread 
 and wine, that he may with the more readiness and decency break 
 the bread before the people, and take the cup into his hand ; he shall 
 say the prayer of consecration, as followeth: 
 
 All glory be to thee, Almighty God, our heavenly 
 Father, for that thou, of thy tender mercy, didst give 
 thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the 
 cross for our redemption ; who made there (by his 
 one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, 
 and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for 
 the sins of the whole world; and did institute, and in 
 his holy Gospel command us to continue a perpetual 
 memory of that his precious death and sacrifice until 
 his coming again : For in the night in 
 (a) Here the Priest which hc was bctravcd (aj he took 
 
 is to take the Paten ji i*ii-,i i 
 
 into his hands. bread ; and when he had given thanks, 
 
 (b) And here to break ;h\ he brake it, and cave it to hi.« dis- 
 
 the bread . „^ ^ >• \ . i • • 
 
 (c) And here to lay ciDies, saving, J akc. eat, (c) this js my 
 
 his liands upon ail the y^ ' , i_ ■ i • /• r^ ..i ■ 
 
 bread. body. which IS given tor you ; iJo this 
 
 in remembrance of me. Likewise, 
 
 (d) Here he is to take after supper (d) he took thecup; and 
 
 t}\e cup into his hand. ^}^en he had given thanks, he ga\e it 
 
 to them, saying, Drink ye all of this, 
 
 (e) And here he ii for {<') thlS is mV Blood, of the NcW 
 
 lvt-^^v"sennvvS Tebtamcut, which is shed for you, and 
 be'coVsSed""' '° for many, for the remission of sins; 
 
 Do this as oft as ye shall drink it, in 
 
 remembrance of me. 
 
 The Oblation. 
 
 Wherefore, O Lord and heavenly 
 Father, according to the institution of 
 thy dearly beloved Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, 
 we, thy humble servarits, do celebrate and make here 
 before thy divine Majesty, with these thy holy gift^, 
 
the Holy Commumotj. 219 
 
 which we now offer unto thee, the memorial thy Son 
 hath commanded us to make ; having in remembrance 
 his blessed passion and precious death, his mighty 
 resurrection and glorious ascension ; rendering unto 
 thee most hearty thanks, for the innumerable benefits 
 procured unto us by the same. And we ^^ ^ 
 
 »., II, ,, /-. • r ^ The InTocation. 
 
 most humbly beseech thee, O merciiul 
 Father, to hear us ; and, of thy almighty goodness, 
 vouchsafe to bless and sanctify, with thy Word and 
 Holy Spirit, these thy gifts and creatures of bread 
 and wine ; that we, receiving them according to thy 
 Son our Saviour Jesus Christ's holy institution, in 
 remembrance of his death and passion, may be par- 
 takers of his most blessed body and blood. And we 
 earnestly desire thy fatherly goodness, mercifully to 
 accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving ; 
 most humbly beseeching thee to grant, that by the 
 merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and through 
 fjaith in his blood, we, and all thy whole church, may 
 oblain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of 
 his passion. And here we offer and present unto thee, 
 O Lord, ourselves, our souls, and bodies, to be a rea- 
 sonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee ; humbly 
 beseeching thee, that we, and all others who shall be 
 partakers of this holy communion, may worthily re- 
 ceive the most precious body and blood of thy Son 
 Jesus Christ, be filled with thy grace and heavenly 
 benediction, and made one body with him, that he may 
 dwell in them, and they in him. And although we 
 are unworthy, through our manifold sins, to offer unto 
 thee any sacrifice ; yet we beseech thee to accept 
 this our bounden duty and service, not weighing our 
 merits, but pardoning our offences; through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord; by whom, and with whom, in the 
 unity of the Holy Ghost, all honour and glory be unto 
 thee, O Father Almighty, world without end. Amen, 
 
 ^ Here shall be sung a hymn, or part of a hymn, from the selection for 
 the Feasts and Fasts, &c. 
 
220 The Administration of 
 
 f li While tlje priest, the clergy, and others, are receiving the consecrat- 
 ed elements, the communicant should be engaged in devoutly reading 
 the following meditations. 
 
 St. Luke XV. 2. — T^he Pharisees murmured, sayings 
 This man rectixeth sinners and eateth with them. 
 
 1 bless thee, O my Saviour, that thou didst not 
 proudly contemn the company of sinners. I con- 
 fess that I am indeed an unworthy sinner. O re- 
 ceive me, as a guest at thy table, and make me 
 partaker of the blessings of thy love. 
 
 St. John vi. 58. — He that eateth of this bread shaU 
 live for ever, 
 
 O Jesus, who hast made the life of our souls to 
 depend on the consecrated bread, the symbol of 
 ihy life-giving body, may I never render myself 
 unworthy of so great a blessing, or deprive myself 
 of it through my own wilful negligence. May 
 this sacred bread be a principle of immortal life to 
 me, uniting me to thee for ever, my Saviour and 
 
 mv Lord. 
 
 « 
 
 Exodus xli. 23. — When he seeth the blood of the 
 Paschal Lamb on the door^ he zcill not suffer the de* 
 itroyer to come in to smite you, 
 
 O Jesus, the true Paschal I/imb, v;ho by thy 
 precious blood hast paid the debt due to divine 
 justice, and hast delivered us from the power of 
 the destroyer, sprinkle me with thy precious blood, 
 that I may be rescued from the condemning sen- 
 tence of thy justice. 
 
 Galatians iii. 13.— CAris/ hath redeemed us from the 
 curse of the law, being made a curse for us i that is — 
 he was treated as one under the curse of the law.. 
 Deut, xxi. 23. 
 
 Blessed God 1 how great was our misery f How 
 
the Holy Commiinion. 221 
 
 great was thy tnerci/ ! The death of thy Son only 
 could save us from ruin, and him thou didst wil- 
 lingly give. May I never deceive myself with the 
 vain hope, that, while I continue in sin, thy mercy 
 will spare me ; when thou didst not spare thine 
 own Son, who put himself in the place of sinners ! 
 May I never provoke, by transgression, thy justice! 
 May I never forget thy mercies, and the infinite 
 condescension of thy blessed Son, who, for my re- 
 demption, humbled himself even to the death upon 
 the cross. 
 
 1 John ii. 25. — This is the promise that he hath pro- 
 mised us, even eternal life. 
 
 How infinitely gracious is our God, to excite 
 and encourage us in his service by the promise of 
 immortal glory and bliss ! Give me a firm faith 
 in thy gracious promises, that no pleasures may 
 corrupt my heart, no difficulties discourage me 
 from serving thee. 
 
 1 Cor. xi. 28. — Let a man examine himself , and so 
 let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 
 
 That I am invited to thy holy table, is not be- 
 cause I am -worthy, but because thou, O God, art 
 infinitely gracious and merciful, — Have compassion 
 on my infirmities ; accept of my sincere but im- 
 perfect resolutions. I acknowledge my unworthi- 
 ness — I place all my hopes of acceptance in thy 
 mercy and love, through Jesus my Redeemer — 
 sincerely do I resolve to lead a new life — to use 
 all diligence to secure the glorious privileges of my 
 Christian vocation. With these sacred purposes, 
 I presume to advance, O Lord, to thy altar ; trust- 
 ing to thy mercy for the pardon of all my defects, 
 and to thy^ powerful grace to quicken in me those 
 T 2 
 
2'22 The Administration of 
 
 holy dispositions which will make me an acceptable 
 guest at thy holy table. 
 
 ^ Immediately before going up to the altar, use the following prayers' 
 
 O gracious and merciful God ! Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost ! look down from heaven, the throne 
 of thy eternal glory, upon me thy unworthy servant, 
 with the eyes of mercy and compassion. O Lord 
 my God, 1 disclaim all merit ; I renounce all 
 righteousness of my own ; and I fly for refuge, for 
 pardon, and sanctification, to the righteousness of 
 Jesus, thy anointed. For thy tender mercies' sake, 
 for the sake of the blessed Jesus, the Son of thy 
 love» in whom thou art ever well pleased, have 
 mercy upon me; receive my prayers; pardon 
 my infirmities; strengthen my weak resolutions; 
 guide my steps to thy holy altar, and there feed 
 me with the meat that perisheth not, but endureth 
 to everlasting life. Amen* 
 
 T Then advancing to the altar, and humbly kneeling down, use the fol- 
 lowing ejaculatory prayer before recf iving the consecrated bread. 
 
 O my Lord and my God ! may I receive this 
 sacred symbol of thy crucified body in remem- 
 brance of the sacrifice of thy cross, trusting alone 
 in thy infinite merits. By the power of thy 
 grace may I be delivered from condemnation and 
 death. 
 
 ^ When the minister repeats the words, The body of oxir Lord Jesus 
 Christ, ivnich -was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto 
 everlasting life — stal this affecting petition by saying, secretly and 
 fervently, .Amen ; and then reverently receive the consecrated bread 
 ■with the light hand.")' 
 
 • The receiving of the consecrated bread with the glove on the hand 
 should be avoided as iamiliar and irreverent Perbaps the laost decent 
 and proper manner ot receiving the consecrated bread, is in tbe palm of 
 Ibe right hand, crossed over the left, and then lifted to the moulh. 
 
the Holy Communion, ^i 
 
 f Then shall the priest first receive the communion in both kinds himself, 
 and proceed to deliver the same to the bishops, priests, and deacons, 
 in like manner, (if any be present) and, after that, to the people also 
 in order into their hands, all devoutly kneeling: And when he deliver- 
 cth the bread, he shall say. 
 
 The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which wae 
 given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto ever- 
 lasting life: Take and eat thi3 in remembrance that 
 Christ died for thee, and feed an him in thy heart by 
 faith, with thanksgiving. 
 
 [^% Use the following ejaculation after receiving the consecrated bread; 
 
 Almighty is thy power; infinite thy mercy, 
 blessed Jesus. Be it unto thy servant according 
 unto thy word. O let thy body nourish and 
 strengthen me unto everlasting life. Glory ever- 
 more be unto thee, Holy Jcaua, the Author and 
 Finisher of my salvation. 
 
 fl Use the following ejaculation before receiving the consecrated cup: 
 
 I will receive the cup of salvation, and call upon 
 the name of tlie Lord. I will ratify my vows with 
 this blood of the everlasting covenant ; and devote 
 myself for ever to thy service, O my God. Sa- 
 viour of the world, evermore help and deUver me. 
 
 5[ When the minister repeats the woixls, The blood oj our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, -which tous shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto 
 everlasting life — seal this affecting petition by saying, secretly and 
 fervently, Amen.'\ 
 
 % And the minister who df Hrereth the cup shall saj^. 
 
 The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was 
 shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto ever- 
 lasting life: Diink this in remembrance that Christ's 
 blood was shed for thee, and be thank(ul. 
 
 [If Use the following ejaculation after receiving the cup : 
 
 All-powerful is the efficacy of thy precious blood, 
 O my Saviour. May it purify my soul from sin, 
 and be a fountain of pardon, peace, life eternal. 
 Glory be unto thee, O Lamb of God, that takest 
 away the sins of the world. Blessed is he who re-;^ 
 
.224 The Administration of 
 
 ceiveth by faith the symbols of thy love in thy 
 church on earth. He shall celebrate the everlast- 
 ing festival of love in thy heavenly kingdom. Amen 
 and Amen, 
 
 ^ Then returning to your seat, use the following prayer: 
 
 Blessed Jesus ! relying on thy mercy, I have 
 bowed myself at thy table, to receive the precious 
 pledges of thy dying love. O may thy presence 
 go with me from thy hol> altar, tliat when I return 
 to the necessary labours and duties of the world, I 
 may be enabled, by thy grace, to obey thy com- 
 mandments, and to rejoice in the smiles of thy love. 
 Guided by thy mercy through all the dangers and 
 trials of my pilgrimdi^c, may I at length depart out 
 of this v\orld in peace, in a steadfast reliance on thy 
 merits, in the joyful hope of the fruition of the 
 glories of thy kingdom, O blessed Jesus; to whom, 
 with the Father and tht Holy Ghost, 1 render all 
 the praise of my redemption. Amen* 
 
 ^ On Christmas- day, Easter-di'A , kc add to your other devotions at the 
 communion, the following. 
 
 ^ Upon Chrislrais-day, and seven days after. 
 
 I desire, O God, evermore to bless and praise 
 thee for thy infinite love. For thou didst take 
 compassion on mankind in his state of condemna- 
 tion and misery, and didst send thy only Son into 
 the world to instruct and guide us by his holy doc- 
 trine and example ; to redeem us from sin, and 
 to purchase for us everlasting happiness, by the 
 sacrifice of his death. Grant, O Lord, that through 
 the power of thy grace and heavenly benediction, 
 I may fulfil the design of my Saviour's coming. 
 ^' Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, may I 
 live righteously, soberly, and godly in this present 
 
the Holy Communion, 225 
 
 world," and thus be prepared to dwell for ever with 
 thee, O Father of mercies and God of all comfort^. 
 in those mansions of bliss and glory which thou 
 hast prepared for them that love thee. Amen. 
 
 % upon Easter-day, and seven days after. 
 
 Blessed Jesus ! who, by thy glorious resurrec- 
 tion from the dead, hast proved thyself to be the 
 Son of God, hast triumphed over the power of 
 darkness, and conquered death and the grave ; keep 
 me steadfast in the faith of thy holy name. Grant,. 
 O Lord, that, by the power of thy grace, I may 
 rise from the death of sin unto the life of righteous- 
 ness; may daily proceed in all virtue and godli- 
 ness of living ; and departing this life in thy faiths 
 and fear, may finally have my perfect consumma- 
 tion and bliss, both in body and soul, in tliy 
 eternal and everlasting kingdom. Amen, 
 
 ^ Upon Ascension-day, and seven days afters 
 
 O blessed Jesus ! who, after thy conquest over 
 death 'and hell, didst ascend in triumph to heaven, 
 that thou mightest prepare for us mansions of eter- 
 nal glory ; grant that the desires and affections of 
 my soul may ascend after thee, and be supremely 
 engaged with the contemplation of the glories of 
 thy power and love. For *' whom have I in hea- 
 ven but thee, and there is none oji earth that t 
 desire beside tb^e.'* Amen, 
 
 ^ Upon Whit-Sunday, and sis daj's after. 
 
 O blessed Jesus ! who hast sent thy Holy Ghost 
 to sanctify and comfort us. May my thoughts 
 and desires, my ways and actions, evermore be 
 directed by his divine guidance. Let him be unta 
 me a spirit of sanctijication, to purify my corrupt 
 nature ; a spirit of counsel in all my difficulties; of 
 
226 The Administration of 
 
 direction in all my doubts, fears, and scruples ; of 
 courage in all my dangers ; of constancy and con- 
 solation to me under all my persecutions and suf- 
 ferings, especially in time of sickness, and at the 
 hour of death ; that, being governed and guided 
 by his divine influence and direction, I may pass 
 through all the changes and chances of this mortal 
 life, and finally attain thy heavenly kingdom, there 
 to reign with thee, blessed Jesus, world without 
 end. Amen. 
 
 ^ Upon Trinity Sunday. 
 
 Glorj' be to thee, O God the Father, for creat* 
 ing me after thine own image, and for recovering 
 me from a state of guilt and misery. Glory be 
 to thee, O God the Son, for undertaking the 
 wonderful work of man's redemption, by assuming 
 our miserable nature ; for the merits of thy suffer- 
 ing life ; and for the redeeming efficacy of thy 
 death. Glory be to thee, O God the Holy Ghost^ 
 for thy miraculous gifts bestowed upon the apos- 
 tles ; and for thy preventing, restraining, enlight- 
 ening, consoling, and sanctifying grace. Blessing 
 and honour, thanksgiving and praise, be unto thee, 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. 
 Amen. 
 
 V At this most solemn and affecting ordinance, the communicant shouM 
 be constantly engaged in acts of devotion. After he h»s received the 
 elements, let him read the following meditations until the minister is 
 ready to go on with the concluding portion of the service. 
 
 Rom» viii. 32.— He that spared not his own Son, 
 but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with 
 him also freely give us all things ? 
 
 O God ! the gift of thy only-begotten and be- 
 loved Son for the sins of a guilty world, is a sure 
 
the Holy Communion, 227 
 
 pledge of thy infinite love. Thy mercy in Christ 
 Jesus is my only solace when my heart is in hea^ 
 viness. This is my only refuge, when dismayed 
 by the view of my guilt, and the terrors of thy 
 justice. Grant me, O Lord, all those graces and 
 virtues which will qualify me for knowini^ and 
 enjoying thee for ever, for Jesus Christ's sake, 
 the Son of thy love. 
 
 2 Cor. V. 15. — Christ died for all^ that they which 
 live should not henceforth live unto themselves^ but 
 unto him which died for them. 
 
 To thee, O my Saviour, I consecrate that life 
 vv^hich thou hast redeemed by thy precious blood, 
 from the slavery of sin and Satan. Fortify my soul, 
 I beseech thee, against all the temptations of the 
 wor/d, the Jlesh, and the devii^ that with sincerity 
 and devotion of heart, I may evermore serve thee. 
 
 Matt. xvi. 24. — If any man will come after me, /e* 
 him deny himself and take up his cross and follovi me, 
 
 O my Saviour ! who didst take upon thee the 
 form of a servant, and, to redeem sinful man, 
 didst bear his grief and carry his sorrows ; let me 
 not profess to follow thee, without endeavouring 
 to follow the blessed steps of thy most holy life ; 
 to imitate thy patience, meekness, and humility ; 
 thy great disregard for the world, its pleasures, 
 emoluments, and honours ; thy lively com.passion 
 for the miseries of men ; thy unwearied persever- 
 ance in doing good ; thy constancy and fervour 
 in prayer ; thy supreme resignation to the will of 
 thy Father. Being thus conformed in all things 
 to thee, my Redeemer and Head, may I finally 
 participate of the everlasting glories on which 
 thou hast entered. 
 
228 The Administration of 
 
 Matt. vi. 24. — No man can serve two masters.'^ift 
 •cannot serve God and mammon. 
 
 May I never set up any rival to thee, O God, 
 in the possession of my heart. May I never 
 attempt to reconcile thy service with the service 
 of the world, which is enmity with thee. May I 
 use it so as not to abuse it. May I ever make ail 
 its concerns subordinate to the concerns of my 
 salvation^, And convinced of the unsatisfying 
 nature of its best enjoyments, may I ardently and 
 supremely seek the enduring and satisfying joys 
 of thy glorious presence. 
 
 2 Cor. vi. 16. — Ye are the temple of the living 
 God. 
 
 Make me, O God, truly sensible of the great 
 honour and blessing of being the habitation of thy 
 good Spirit*— of the great danger of profaning, by 
 unholy passions, a temple consecrated to thee. 
 Make me worthy of thy continual abode and pre- 
 sence. Take possession of my soul — bring all its 
 powers into obedience to thy laws ; and enable 
 me to abound in all the fruits of the Spirit, that I 
 may enjoy the exalted assurance that thou indeed 
 dwellest in me. 
 
 Luke XV. 6. — I have found my sheep which was 
 lost, 
 
 O thou good Shepherd ! I bless thee for thy 
 tender care and compassion of thy lost sheep. I 
 had indeed been for ever lost, had not thy love 
 sought and found me when I was astray. For 
 thy goodness sake, keep me from wandering from 
 thy fold ; and exalt me in thy good time to that 
 celestial fold, into which sin and sorrow never 
 enter.] 
 
the Holy Communion, 229 
 
 % If the consecrated bread and wine be spent before all have communi- 
 cated, the priest is to consecrate more, according to the form betore 
 prescribed; beginning at— ^:?// glory be to thee, Mmicrhty God— and 
 ending with these words— />armfcer« of his most blessed Body ana 
 BIoueL . . , , _j» 
 
 ^ When all have communicated, the minister shall return to the Lords 
 table, and reverently place upon it wh^t remaineth of the consecrated 
 elements, covering the same with a fair linen cloth- 
 
 ^ Then shall the minister say the Lord's Prayer, the people repeatmg 
 after him every petition. 
 
 Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy 
 Name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on 
 earth, as it is in heaven ; Give us this day our daily 
 bread ; And forgive us our trespasses^ as we forgive 
 those who trespass against us ; And lead us not into 
 temptation; But deliver us from evil : For thine is 
 the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever 
 and ever. Amen. 
 
 ^ After shall be said as foflowelh : 
 
 Almighty and everliving God, we most heartily 
 xhank thee, for that thou dost vouchsafe to feed us, 
 who have duly received these holy mysteries, with 
 the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood 
 of thy Son -oirr^aviour Jesus Christ ; and dost assure 
 ■^19 thereby of thy favour and goodness towards us; 
 and that we are very members incorporate in the mys- 
 tical body of thy Son, which is the blessed company 
 of all faithful people ; and are ako heirs through hope 
 of thy everlasting kingdom, by the merits of the most 
 precious death and passion of thy dear Son. And we 
 most humbly beseech thee, O heavenly Father, so to 
 assist ys with thy grace, that we may continue in that 
 holy fellowship, and do all such good works as thou 
 hast prepared for us to walk iti, through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord; to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, 
 be all honour and glory, world without end. /Imen. 
 
 ■^ Then shall be said or sung, all standing, Gloria iii Excehis, or some 
 proper hymu from the Selection. 
 
 Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, 
 p:ood-will towards men. We praise thee, we bless 
 thee, we worship thee, we glorify thee, we give thanks 
 
 U 
 
230 The Administration of 
 
 to thee for thy great glory, O Lord God, heaveni/ 
 King, God the Father Almighty. 
 
 Lord, the only-begotten Son Jesus Christ ; O 
 Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that 
 takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon 
 us : Thou that takest away the sins of the warld, have 
 mercy upon us : Thou that takest away the sins of 
 the world, receive our prayer : Thou that sittest at the 
 right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us. 
 
 For thou only art holy ; thou only art the Lord ; 
 thou only, O Christ, with the Haly Ghost, art most 
 high in the glory of God the Father. Amen. 
 
 ^ Then the priest (the bishop, if he be present) thall let them depart 
 with this blessing: 
 
 The peace of God, which passeth all understand- 
 ing, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge 
 and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our 
 Lord : And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, 
 the Son, and the Hoi)' Ghost, be amongst you, and 
 remain with you always. Amen. 
 
 [^ After the blessing use the following prayer : 
 
 1 bless thee, O God, for the spiritual nourish- 
 ment with which thou hast strengthened and re- 
 freshed my soul. I bless thee, that through the 
 crucified body and blood of thy Son, I am restored 
 to thy favour. Pardon the many imperfections 
 of my services ; and grant me grace to fulfil the 
 sacred vows of love and obedience which I have 
 made to thee, my God and Father, through Jesus 
 Christ my Redeemer. Amen.'] 
 
 ^Collects that may be ss'id after the collects of morning or evening 
 prayer, or communion, at the discretion of the minister. 
 
 Assist us mercifully, O Lord, in these our supplica- 
 tions and prayers ; and dispose the way of thy servants 
 towards the attainment of everlasting salvation ; that 
 among all the changes and chances of this mortal life, 
 they may ever be defended by thy most gracious and 
 ready help, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen* 
 
the Holy CommuniotJ. 231 
 
 Grant, we beseech thee. Almighty God, that the 
 words which we have heard this day with our outward 
 ear?, may, through thy grace, be so grafted inwardly 
 in our hearts, that they may bring forth in us the fruit 
 of good Hving ; to the honour and praise of thy name, 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. 
 
 Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings, with thy most 
 gracious favour, and further us with thy continual 
 help ; that in all our works begun, continued, and 
 ended in thee, we may glorify thy holy name ; and 
 linally, by thy mercy, obtain everlasting life, through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, who 
 knowest our necessities before we ask, and our igno- 
 rance in asking ; we beseech thee to have compassion 
 upon our infirmities; and those things which for our 
 unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we 
 cannot ask, vouchsafe to give us, for the worthiness 
 of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, 
 
 Almighty God, who hast promised to hear the 
 petitions of those who ask in thy Son's name ; we 
 beseech thee mercifully to incline thine ears to us who 
 Jiave now made our pra)ers and supplications unto 
 thee ; and grant, that those things which we have 
 faithfully asked according to thy will, may effectually 
 be obtained ; to the relief of our necessity, and to the 
 netting forth of thy glory, through Jesus Clirist our 
 Lord, Amen, 
 
 5i Upon Sundays and other l.o'y days (if there be no sermon or commu- 
 nion) sliall be said all ihut is appointttl at the communion, unto the tnd 
 of the Gospel, concluding witli the blessing. And if any of the conse- 
 crated bread and wine remHJn nfttr the communion, it shall not be - 
 carried out of the church; but the minister and other tommuiiici+nts 
 shall, immediately after the blessing, reverently eat and drink the same. 
 
 LH tJpon your return home, retire to your closet to praise God for his 
 mercies, and to supplicate his blessing in the following prayer : 
 
 I adore and praise thee, O God, for the rich 
 blessings of thy covenant of mercy, through Jesus 
 Christ, which thou hast sealed to mv soul in that 
 
232 Administration of the Communion. 
 
 hallowed ordinance of which I have participatetl. 
 I bless thee, O Lord, that having humbly and 
 bincerely devoted myself to thee, and sealed my 
 vows over the sacred symbols of the body and 
 blood of thy Son, I can enjoy the exalted hope 
 that thy raercy will be my constant solace; thy 
 grace my sure protection and reward. O how 
 great is thy love, in thus providihg^^formy perish- 
 ing soul divine succours and consolations I May 
 the obligations of my holy vows, the sacred claims- 
 of thy love, be ever present to my remembrance, 
 and excite me diligently and earnestly to aim at 
 serving and obeying thee. O may I not, by 
 transgression, crucify afresh that Saviour whose 
 sufferings I have commemorated, whose mercy 1 
 have experienced. Almighty God!* thou know- 
 est the weakness of my nature, and the number- 
 less temptations that encompass me ; evermore 
 strengthen me by thy grace. Without thee I 
 shall not be able to stand — O lead me by thy 
 iilmrghty arm — refresh my soul with the consola- 
 tions of thy love — guide me to the end, in thy 
 service ^. and when ray strength and my heart, 
 iailethy when my soul is sinking in the shades of 
 death,, he thou, O Lord, the strength of my heart, 
 and my portion for ever. O my Saviour, visit 
 me with thy salvation; let me see the felicity of/ 
 thy chosen^ and rejoice evermore in the gladness 
 of thy people. Amen. 
 
 ^ Let the comBriunioant devote all the rest of the dwy which is not oc- 
 cupied with the puhlic service of ilie church, to |)rivate acts of devo- 
 tion; to mediti.Vit>g on the infinite mercy and love of his God and 
 Saviour; to rtcnllii'g to mind the sacred obligations to grateful and 
 lioly obedience which. this hallowed oi'dinance has imposed upon him ; 
 and to earnestly and humbly imploring tlic succours of divine grace, 
 that he may be s^anctified both in soui and bo<ly, and may be so con- 
 ducted •• through things temporal, that he finally lose act the things 
 that ai-e etcrrral."'^ 
 
233 
 FORMS 
 
 OP 
 
 DAILY DEVOTION. 
 
 (^From Bishop Taylor.) 
 
 A FORM OF PRAYER FOR THE 
 MORNING, 
 
 In the name of the Father, and of the SoUy 
 and of the Holy Ghost — Our Father, &c. 
 
 I. 
 
 Most glorious and eternal God, Father of 
 mercy and God of all comfort, I worship and 
 adore thee with the lowest humility of my 
 soul and body, and give thee all thanks and 
 praise for thy infinite and eternal glories and 
 perfections ; and for the continual demonstra- 
 tion of thy mercies upon me, upon all mine, 
 and upon thy holy Catholic Church. 
 
 11. 
 
 I acknowledge, O God, that I have deserv- 
 ed thy wrath and indignation. But thy mercy 
 triumphing over thy justice and my sins, thou 
 hast still continued to me life and time of 
 repentance ; thou hast opened to me the gates 
 of grace and mercy ; and perpetually called 
 upon me to enter in, and to walk in the paths 
 of a holy life, that I might glorify thee, and 
 be glorified by thee eternally. 
 
 u 3 
 
234 Forms of Daily Devotion.' 
 
 III. 
 
 Behold, O God, for this thy great and un- 
 speakable goodness, for the preservation of 
 me this night, and for aJH thy graces' and 
 blessings, I offer up my '^soul and body, all 
 that I am, and all that I have, as a sacrifice 
 to thee and thy service ; humbly begging of 
 thee to pardon all my sins, to defend me from 
 all evil, to lead me into all good ; and let my 
 portion be amongst thy redeemed ones, in 
 the gathering together of the saints, in the 
 kingdom of grace and gloj-y. . 
 
 Guide me, O Lord, in all the changes and 
 varieties of the world ; that in all things that 
 shall happen, I may have an evenness and 
 tranquillity of spirit; that my soul may be 
 wholly resigned to thy divine will and plea- 
 sure ; never murmuring at thy gentle chas- 
 tisements and fatherly correction, never wax- 
 ing proud and insolent, though 1 feel a torrent 
 of comforts and prosperous successes. 
 
 V. 
 
 Fix my thoughts, my hopes, and my desires 
 upon heaven and heavenly things; teach me 
 to despise the world, to repent me deeply for 
 my sins ; give me holy purposes of amend- 
 ment, and divine strength and assistance to 
 perform faithfully whatsoever I shall intend 
 piously. Enrich my understanding with an 
 internal treasure of divine truths, that 1 may 
 
Forms of Daily Dtruotion,. 235 
 
 know thy will ; and thou, who workest in us^ 
 to will and to do of thy good pleasure, teach 
 me to obey all thy commandments, to believe 
 all thy revelations, and make me partaker of 
 thy gracious promisese 
 
 VI. 
 
 Teach me to watch over all my ways, that 
 I may never be surprised by sudden tempta- 
 tions,- or a careless spirit, nor ever return to 
 folly and vanity. Set a watch, O Lord, before 
 my mouth, and keep the door of my lips, that 
 I offend not in my tongue neither against piety 
 nor charity. Teach me to think of nothing 
 but thee, and what is in order to thy glory 
 and service ; to speak of nothing but thee 
 and thy glories ; and to do nothing but what 
 becomes thy servant, whom thy infinite mercy, 
 by the graces of thy Holy Spirit, hath- sealed 
 up to the day of redemption. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Let all my passions and affections be sc^ 
 mortified and brought under the dominion of 
 grace,^ that I may never by deliberation and 
 purpose, nor yet by levity, rashness, or in- 
 consideration, offend thy Divine Majesty. 
 Make me such as thou wouldst have me to 
 be ; strengthen my faith, confirm my hope, 
 and give me a daily increase of charity ; that 
 this day and ever I may serve thee according 
 to all my opportunities and capacities, grow- 
 ing from grace to grace, till at last, by thy 
 
236 Forms of Daily Devotioiu 
 
 mercies, I shall receive the consummation 
 and perfection of grace, even the glories of 
 thy kingdom, in the full fruition of the face 
 and excellencies of God the Father, the Son,, 
 and the Holy Ghost ; to whom be glory and. 
 praise, honour and adoration given by all 
 angels, and all men, and all creatures^ now 
 and to all eternity. Amen, 
 
 % After wWcb conclude with this ejaculation: 
 
 Now in all tribulation and anguish of spirit, 
 in all dangers of soul and body, in prosperity 
 and adversity, in the hour of death, and in 
 the day of judgment, holy and most blessed 
 Saviour, Jesus^ have mercy upon me;^ save 
 jne and deliver me. Amen, 
 
 A FORM OF PRAYER FOR NOONo 
 
 L 
 
 O ETERNAL God, mcrciful and gracious, 
 vouchsafe thy favour and thy blessing to thy 
 servant: let the love of thy mercies, and the 
 dread and fear of thy majesty, make me 
 careful and inquisitive to search thy will, and 
 diligently to perform it, and to persevere in 
 the practices of a holy life, even till the last 
 of my days. 
 
 II. 
 
 Keep me, O Lord, for I am thine by crea- 
 tion ; guide me, for I am thine by purchase; 
 thou hast redeemed itie by the blood of thy 
 
Forms ofDaih/ Devotion,- 23 T 
 
 Sen, and loved me with the love ofa Father ; 
 for I am thy child by adoption and grace. 
 Let thy mercy pardon my sins, thy providence 
 secure me from the punishments and evils I 
 have deserved, and thy care watch over me,, 
 that I may never any more offend thee. Make 
 me in malice to be a child; but in under- 
 stnnding, piety, and the fear of God, let me 
 be a perfect man in Christ, innocent and 
 prudent, readily furnished and instructed to 
 every good work. 
 
 iir. 
 
 Keep me, O Lord, from the destroying 
 angel, and from the wrath of God. Let thy 
 anger never rise against me ; but thy rods 
 gently correct my follies, and guide me in thy 
 ways; and thy staff support me in all suffer- 
 ings and changes. Keep all my senses entire 
 tilL the day of my death ; and let my death 
 be neither sudden, untimely, nor unprovided; 
 let it be after the common manner of men, 
 having in it nothing extraordinary, but an 
 extraordinary piety, and the manifestation of 
 thy great and miraculous mercy,. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Let no riches^ make me ever forget myself^ 
 no poverty ever make me forget thee. Let 
 no hope or fear, no pleasure or pain, no ac- 
 cident without, no weakness within, hinder 
 or discompose my duty, or turn me from the 
 ways of thy commandments. O let thy Spirit 
 dwell with me for ever, and make my soul 
 
238 Forms of Daily Devotion^ 
 
 just and charitable, full of honesty, full of 
 religion, resolute and constant in holy pur- 
 poses, but inflexible to evil. Make me hum- 
 ble and obedient, peaceable and pious. Let 
 me never envy any man's good, nor deserve 
 to be despised myself; and if I be, teach me 
 to bear it with meekness and charity. 
 
 V. 
 
 Give me a tender conscience ; a conversa- 
 tion discreet and affable, modest and patient, 
 liberal and obliging ; a body chaste and 
 healthful ; competency of living according to 
 my condition ; contentedness in all estates ; 
 a resigned will and mortified affections ; that 
 I may be as thou wouldst have me, and that 
 my portion may be in the lot of the righteous, 
 in the brightness of thy countenance, and the 
 glories of eternity. Amen. 
 
 Holy is our God. Holy is the Almighty. 
 Holy is the Immortal. Holy, holy, holy Lord 
 Qod of Hosts, have mercy upon me. 
 
 Our Father, who art in heaven, &c. 
 
 A FORM OF PRAYER FOR EVENING. 
 
 I. 
 
 O ETERNAL God, great Father of men and 
 angels, who hast established the heavens and 
 the earth in a wonderful order, making day 
 and night to succeed each other; I make my 
 humble address to thy Divine Majesty, beg- 
 
Forms of Daily Devotion. S'3& 
 
 ging of thee mercy and protection this night 
 an(J ever. O Lord, pardon all my sins, my 
 light and rash words, the vanity and impiety 
 of ray thoughts, my unjust and uncharitable 
 actions, and whatsoever sins I have committed 
 against thee this day, or any time before. 
 Behold, O God, my soul is troubled in the 
 remembrance of my sins, in the frailty and 
 sinfulness of my flesh, exposed to every temp- 
 tation, and of itself not able to resist any. 
 Ijord God of mercy, I earnestly beg of thee 
 to give me a great portion of thy grace, such 
 as may be sufficient and effectual for the 
 mortification of all my sins, and vanities, and 
 disorders: that as I have formerly starved my 
 lust and unworthy desiriis, so now I may give 
 myself up wholly to thy service and the studies 
 of a holy life. 
 
 II. 
 
 Blessed Lord, teach me frequently and 
 sadly to remember my sins; and be thou 
 pleased for Jesus my Redeemer's sake to 
 remember them no more. Let me never 
 forget thy mercies, and do thou still remem- 
 ber to do me good. Teach me to walk al- 
 ways as in thy presence. Ennoble my soul 
 with great degrees of love to thee ; and im- 
 press on my spirit a great fear and veneration 
 of thy holy name and laws ; that it may be- 
 come the great employment of my whole life 
 to serve thee, to advance thy glory, to root 
 out all the habits of sin, that in holiness of 
 
240 Forms of Daily Devotion, 
 
 iife, in humility, in charity, in chastity, and 
 in all the ornaments of grace, 1 may by pa- 
 tience wait for the coming af our Lord Jesus, 
 Amen. 
 
 III. 
 
 Teach me, O Lord, to number my days?, 
 that I may apply my heart unto wisdom ; 
 ever to remember my last end, that I may 
 not dare to sin against thee. Let thy holy 
 angels be ever present with me, to keep me 
 in all my ways from the malice and violence 
 of the spirits of darkness, from evil company, 
 and the occasions and opportunities of evil, 
 from all the ways of sinful shame, from the 
 hands of all mine enemies, from a sinful life, 
 and from despair in the hour of my death. 
 Then, O blessed Jesus, shine gloriously upon 
 me ; let thy mercies, and the light of thy 
 countenance sustain me in my agonies, weak- 
 nesses, and temptations ; give me an oppor- 
 tunity of a prudent and spiritual guide, and 
 of receiving the holy sacrament; and let thy 
 loving Spirit so guide me in the ways of 
 peace and safety, that with the testimony of 
 a good conscience, and the sense of thy mer- 
 cies and grace, I may depart this life in the 
 unity of the church, in the love of God, and 
 a certain hope of salvation through thee, my 
 Lord and blessed Saviour. Amen. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Into thy hands, most blessed Jesus, I com- 
 mend my soul and body, for thou hast re- 
 
Forms of Daily Devotion, 241 
 
 deemed both with thy most precious blood. 
 So bless and sanctify my sleep unto me, that 
 it may be temperate, holy, and safe, a re- 
 fresh mtant to my wearied body, to enable it 
 so to serve my soul, that both may serve thee 
 with a never-failing duty. O let me never 
 sleep in sin or death eternal, but give me a 
 watchful and a prudent spirit, that I may omit 
 no opportunity of serving thee ; that whether 
 I sleep or wake, live or die, I may be thy 
 servant and thy child; that when the work of 
 my life is done, I may rest in the bosom of 
 my Lord ; till by the voice of the archangel, 
 the trump of God, I shall be awakened and 
 called to sit down and feast at the eternal 
 supper of the Lamb. Grant this, O Lamb of 
 God, for the honour of thy mercies, and the 
 glory of thy name, O most merciful Saviour 
 and Redeemer Jesus, Amen, 
 Our Father, Slc, 
 
 Psalm cxxi. 1, &c. — I will lift up mine eyes 
 unto the hills, from whence eometh my help. 
 
 My help eometh from the Lord, who hath 
 made heaven and earth. 
 
 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved : 
 he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 
 
 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither 
 slumbernor sleep. 
 
 The Lord is thy keeper : the Lord is thy 
 shade upon thy right hand. 
 
 The sun shall not smite thee by day, 
 neither the moon by night. 
 
 X 
 
242 Forms of Daily Devotion. 
 
 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil 3 
 he shall preserve ihy soul. 
 
 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and 
 thy coming in, from this time forth for ever- 
 more. 
 
 Glory be to the Father, &c. 
 
 To your Evening Devotions add the follow-^ 
 ing Act of Intercession, 
 
 O God of infinite mercy, who hast com- 
 passion on all men, and relievest the neces- 
 sities of all that call to thee fbr help ; hear 
 the prayers of thy servant, who is unworthy 
 to ask any petition for himself, yet in humility 
 and duty is bound to pray for others. 
 
 O let thy mercy descend upon the whole 
 church ; preserve her in truth and peace, in 
 unity and safety; that offering to thy glory 
 the never-ceasing sacrifice of prayer and 
 thanksgiving, she may advance the honour of 
 her Lord, and be filled with his Spirit, and 
 partake of his glory. Amen. 
 
 Bless all Christian rulers, and grant them 
 grace, wisdom, and understanding, to execute 
 ju:^tice, and to maintain truth. Amen. 
 
 Bless those who minister in holy things. 
 Clothe them with salvation, that the people 
 may rejoice. Amen. 
 
 Let all my family and kindred, my neigh- 
 bours and friends, receive the benefit of my 
 
Forms of Daily Devotmi. 243 
 
 prayers, and the blessings of thy favour ; the 
 comforts and supports of thy providence, and 
 the sanctification of thy Spirit. Amen, 
 
 Reheve and comfort ail the persecuted 
 and afflicted ; speak peace to troubled con- 
 sciences ; strengthen the weak ; confirm the 
 strong ; instruct the ignorant ; deliver the op- 
 pressed from him that spoileth him ; and re- 
 lieve the needy that hath no helper ; and 
 bring us all, by the waters of comfort, and 
 in the ways of righteousness, to the kingdom 
 of rest and glory, through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. Amen. 
 
 To If our Devotions on Sunday add the 
 following, 
 
 {From Bishop ^incJreios.) 
 
 Through the tender mercy of our God, 
 the day-spring from on high hath visited us. 
 
 Blessed be thy name, O Lord, for that 
 light which no darkness ever overspreads, 
 that sun which never goes down. 
 
 O thou who, on this day, didst rise again, 
 raise up my soul to newness of life ; grant 
 me repentance from dead works, and plant 
 me in the likeness of thy resurrection. 
 
 And thou, O Father and God of peace, 
 who didst bring again from the dead our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of 
 the sheep, through the blood of the everlast- 
 
244 Forms of Daily Devofio?u 
 
 ing covenant; make me perfect in every 
 good work to Ho thy will, working in me that 
 which is well pleasing in thy sight, tjjrough 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 O thou who didst also on this day of the 
 week send down on thy apostles thy most 
 Holy Spirit ; take not the same Spirit away 
 from us ; but grant to all thy servants who 
 ask it of thee, that they may be daily renew- 
 ed, and more plentifully enriched with the 
 same. 
 
 O Lord, who, by choosing this day for 
 these most important, most beneficial events, 
 didst direct thy apostles to call it, and to 
 make it thy holy day ; grant that by implor- 
 ing thy grace, and celebrating thy praise on 
 this holy day ; by praising and reading thy 
 word; and by attending on the public assem- 
 blies of thy saints in the house where thy 
 honour dwelleth ; I may be prepared for that 
 eternal rest which remaineth for the people 
 of God, of which the sacred rest of this day 
 is a figure and a pledge — and for joining in 
 the eternal hymns of angels and blessed 
 spirits in the life to come ; ascribing unto 
 God the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
 Ghost, honour and praise, for ever and ever. 
 Amen. 
 
Forms of Daily Devotion, 245 
 
 SHORT EJACULATIONS. 
 
 In the Morningj when you first awake and 
 see the Light* 
 
 I BLESS thee, O Lord, for watching over 
 me this night, and for bringing me to enjoy 
 the comforts of another day. Lord, lift thou 
 up the light of thy countenance upon me. 
 
 When you get up, 
 
 I laid me down and slept, and rose up 
 again, for the Lord sustained me. O let me 
 awake unto righteousness, and arise from 
 the dead, that Christ may give m,e light. 
 
 When you lie down at Night, 
 
 i will lay me down in peace, to take my 
 rest. O my God, under the shadow of thy 
 wings make me to dwell in safety. 
 
 In tlie Church, before Divine Service, 
 
 O Lord, pardon my sins, and receive my 
 prayers ; and may the truths of salvation here 
 proclaimed make me wise unto salvation^ 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, 
 
 After Divine Service, 
 
 O Lord, pardon the imperfections both of 
 my prayers and praises, and incline me not 
 only to hear thy word, but to obey the same^ 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen, 
 
 X2 
 
246 Forms of Daily Devotion. 
 
 Grace before Meat, 
 
 Bless, O Lord, we beseech thee, this re- 
 freshment to our use, aud us to thy service^ 
 for Christ's sake. Aiiun, 
 
 Grace after Meat. 
 
 For this and every other mercy, O God, 
 thy holy name be praised, through J^suf? 
 Christ our Lord. Amen, 
 
DIRECTIONS 
 
 COLLECTS AND PSAIiMS, 
 
 IK THE 
 
 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, 
 
 iTROPER TO BE USED BY THE COMMUNICANT IN HIS PRIVATE 
 DEVOTION. 
 
 For God's assistance in the perform 
 ance of our duty, 
 
 For deliverance from, and support 
 under, yfflictioDS, 
 
 For the universal church, 
 
 J'or peace and unity of the church. 
 
 For contrition, 
 \gainst covetousness, 
 
 For conyersion from sin, 
 
 For the benefit of Christ's death, 
 For a right and firm faith, 
 For faith, hope, and charity, 
 
 For grace and assistance in our 
 spiritual course. 
 
 For eternal happiuess. 
 
 For humility and patience. 
 For imitation of Christ, 
 
 For our imitation of the saints, 
 
 Collects. See-^ 
 • (1st Sunday after Epiphany^ 
 ^9th after Trinity. 
 C 3d Sunday after Epiphany, 
 
 < 8th after JVinity, 
 C 5th in Lent. 
 
 r 5tli Sunday sfier Epiphany, 
 
 J St. John Evangelist, 
 
 J ^d for Good Friday, 
 
 C 16th and 22d after' Trinity. 
 
 C 5th Sunday after Trinity, 
 
 < St. Simon and St. Jude,' 
 (See ^Ministers. 
 
 Ash-Wednesday. 
 
 St. Matthew's Day. 
 r Ibt Sunday in Advent, 
 \ 1 St after Easter, 
 
 < St. Andrew's Day, 
 J St James's Dav, 
 
 (. ^t Matthew's 'Day. 
 
 The Annunciation, 
 r Trinity Sunday, St. Thomas, ant; 
 i St. Mark. 
 
 14th Sunday after Trinity. 
 r 2d Sunday in Lent, 
 ^ 4th in Advent, 
 J Easter-Day, 
 
 ( 1st, '2d, and 13lh after Trinity. 
 r 1st Sunday in Advent, 
 > Epiphany, 
 
 J 6th Sunday after Epipliany, 
 ^ Sunday after Ascension Day. 
 
 Sunday before Easter. 
 
 2d Sunday after Easter. 
 r St. Stephen's Day. 
 \ St. Philip's Day,' 
 
 < St. James's Day, 
 /St. John Bapiig't'8 Day, 
 V All Saints D»}-. 
 
248 Directions to Collects and Psalms c 
 
 Collects. 
 For deliverance f.o™ judgments. {|.t''Sy"\ It.?' 
 
 For thelove of God and hi, ,aw=, {titAtlt^X^Triuiiy 
 For love and charity, Quinquagesimy Sunday. 
 
 For the ministers of God's word S l[- ^y^^'^r\\^ ^"y» 
 
 and sacraments. KVi^^T' {', . 
 
 • f 3d Sunday ni Advent. 
 
 For mortification, The Circumcision, and Easter-Day. 
 
 For tiie protection of God's provi-C'id, 3<), 4th, and 20th Sunday s after 
 
 dence, c Trinity. 
 
 For puritv of heait. The Puiification. 
 
 For pardon of sin, P^^\h, '21st. and 24th Sundays after 
 
 • ' C 1 rmity. 
 
 For acceptance of our prayers, lOth Sunday after Trinity. 
 
 For renovation, Christmas-Day. 
 
 To be truly rehgious, 7th Sunday after Trinity. 
 
 For (christian resolulion, St. John Baptist's Diiy. 
 
 For sincerity, 3d Sunday after Hasler. 
 
 Before reading the Scriptures, '2d Sunday in Advent. 
 
 Against evil ihou^hts, 5ll) after iiaster. 
 
 For deliverance from, and support c 4th after Epiphany, 
 
 under, temptations, \-2il in Lent. 
 
 r .5th after Easter, 
 For fruitfulness in good uorks, < 1st, lith, 1 Ith, 13th, 17th, and 25lh 
 
 C after Triiiity. 
 
 J^salmn, 
 For God's assistance in our saci amental preparation, 23, 2§, 111. 
 
 For the gift and grace of repentance, - - 6, 25, 3ii, 38, 
 
 Before self-ex amitiation, - - - - - 139. 
 
 For confession (jf sins, and for forgivcne-ss, - - 6, 32, 38, 51. 
 
 An act of contrition, 25. 
 
 On a resolution to lead a new life, - . - 1, 23, 24, 25, 126. 
 
 For faith in God's mercy through Christ's de;tth, 19, 57. 
 
 For a thankful rememhi-anve of Christ's deaih, '2, 3, 4, 103. 
 
 For the grace of chanty, 15,41,112,133. 
 
 For grace to love God's law, - - . - 19, 119. 
 
 For a holy life, - 85. ^ 
 
 For salvation and eternal liHppiness, - - - IG, 24. 
 
 For G<k1's care and protection, - . - - 37. 
 
 For the comfort of (tcxI's holy Spirit, . - 34. 
 
 For humility, ---...- 131. 
 
 Thanksgiving for God's mercies, ... 103,136,138. 
 
 For pardon of sins, - 85,106,116. 
 
 For re<lemption hy Christ, - - - - 98,118. 
 
 Against evil and perplexhig thoughts, . . 6, 34, 42, 43, 102. 
 
 On Christmas-Day, and seven days after, - - 19,45,85. 
 
 Faster-Day, and seven days afier, . - - 2,57,111. 
 
 Whitsunday, and six days' after, - - - 34, 4'2, 43, 51. 
 
 Trinity Suf.day, 2,47,72,110. 
 
 For the grace of pei*severanc(.', - ... 86,119. 
 
 For the morning, 4,16,17,23,86. 
 
 For the evening, - - - • - - 119,130,138. 
 
Dire ctions to Psalms. 84^ 
 
 The seven Penitential Psalms are the 6th, 32(1, 33lh, 51st, lOid, 130t.h, 
 
 S4nd 143(1. 
 Oui- S:ivinur's Sermon on the Mount is the 5th, 6th, an(] 7th chapters 
 
 of St. Matthew. 
 
 The eight Beatitudes. 5/. Matt. chap. v. ver. 3, Sfc' 
 
 1. Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, 
 
 2. Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall he comforted. 
 .1. Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth. 
 
 4. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; 
 for tl)ey shall befiile(i. 
 
 5. Blessed are the merciful: for they sh^jl obtain mercy. 
 
 6. Blessed are the pure in heart ; for ihey shall see Cind. 
 
 7. Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children 
 of Ciod. 
 
 8. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake j for 
 theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 NOTE A, FOR PAGE 178. 
 
 It may not be amiss to present to the reader the following passages fron* 
 the writings of the Fathers, which, with many others that might be 
 produced, decisively prove, that the primitive church was episcopal. 
 
 FIRST CENTURY. 
 
 Ignatius, Bishop, of Antioch^ in hia Epistle to the 
 Trallians. 
 
 ** Continue inseparable from Jesus Christ our God, and from your 
 bishop, and from the commands of the apostles. He that is within the 
 altar is pure; but he that is ivithoiii, that is, does any thing without the 
 bishop, 3in(lpresbt/ters, and deacons, is not pure in his conscience.'* 
 
 In his Epistle to the Smyrnians. 
 
 ** Let no man do any thing of whsit belongs to the church without the 
 bishop. It is not lawful, xvithonl the bishop, neither to baptize, nor tu 
 celebrate the holy communion." 
 
 SECOND CExNTURY. 
 
 Trex^us, Bishop of Lyons^ 
 
 "We can reckon up those whom the apostles ordained to be bishops in 
 the se\eral churches, and who they were ihsil succeeded them do\rn IQ 
 bur tinoes."* 
 
 * Irenxus, lib. Hi. cap. S. 
 
S50 ,Vore A, for Pa^e 178. 
 
 Clemens, of Alexandria. 
 
 *' There are other precepts without number; some which reh^te to 
 prenbtjtei'S; others which helong to bishops; others respecting deacons.'^' 
 
 THIRD CENTURY. 
 Origin, of Alexandria, 
 
 ** There is a debt due to deacons ,' another to presbyters ; and another 
 to bishops, wljich is the gieatest of all, and exacted by the Saviour of 
 the whole church. "j 
 
 Cyprian, Bishofi of Carthage. 
 
 **The church is built on bishops, and every act of the church is govern- 
 ed arid directed by them, ks p7^eside}its."t' 
 
 The te^^iruony of St. Jerome, in the fourth centurj-, has been supposed, 
 by some, to militate against episcopacy. In his ourament on the firit 
 chapter of Titus, he advances only as a conjecture, " that the churcltes 
 ■were at first governed by a college oi presbyters, equal in rank and dig- 
 nity. Afterwards, divisions being occasioned by this parity among pres- 
 byters, when every presbyter began to claim, as his own particular sub- 
 jects, those whom he had baptized ; and it was said by the people, J am 
 of Paid, and I of Apollos, and / of Cephas ; to remedy this evil, it was 
 ordered, all the world over, that one of the presbyters in every church 
 should be set over the rest, and peculiarly called bishop." But it is 
 evident, that in this passage, St Jerome phdnly refers the degree by 
 •which bishops were established over presbyters, to the time of the apos^ 
 tics. He not only assigns, as the occasion of it, the adherence of some to 
 l^aul, of othei*s to Apollos, of others to Cephas, which is reproved by St. 
 Paul, in his epistle to the Corinthians; but in his epistle to Rvagrius, he 
 expressly calls the distinction of bishops, presbyters, and deacons, an 
 apostolic institution^ and taken by the apostles from the Old Testament, 
 where Aaron, iiis sons the priests, and the Levites, correspond to the 
 three orders of the Christian church. In his catalogue of ecclesiastical 
 ■writers, he affirms, "that James was ordained bishop of Jerusalem lythe 
 apostles ; that rimothy was made bishop of Ephesus, and Titus of Crete, 
 by St. I'aul; and l*olycarp, bishop of Smyrna, by St. John," &c. Even 
 i\\ St. Jerome's opinion, therefore, the primacy of bishops over presbyters 
 vas an apostolic institution. Yet, were the opinion of St. Jerome other- 
 ^vise, tlie oiiinion of a single Father, in the fourth century, ought not 
 certainly to be adduced against the concurring testimony of all the earlier 
 Fathers. 
 
 The primitive ehurch, beyond all doubt, was episcopal. The bishops, 
 alone possessed the power of ordinution transmitted fi-ora Christ, the 
 head of the church, that spiritual power which can be dei'ived from him 
 alone, if, then, presbyters, who never received authority to ordnin, 
 •were to exercise this power, the ministerial commission which they 
 •would confer, -would not be derived in the appointed channel from (Jhristj 
 and of course would not be sanctioned by him. The mode established 
 by Christ and his apostles, of conveying ministerial power in the church 
 to "the end of the world," cannot be altered by any human authoniy. 
 
 • Padag: lib. Hi. cap 12. -J- Origetii lib. ^5g< ^^^^ 
 
 r Cyprianus, principio efnst.23. 
 
Note J, for Page 178. 251 
 
 The reader -who is in doubt on this subject, certainly one of the most 
 ■important that can engf>5j;e liis attention, is earnestly requested candidly 
 an«l seriously toperuse Potter on Church Government, and Law's Three 
 Letters to the Rishop of Bangor, which last are published in the Scholar 
 Armed. The former of these writers, by a luminous series of tesiitnony 
 from Scripture and the primitive Fathei-s, proves thnt the original con- 
 stitution of the church was episcopal; and the latter, in a masterly strain 
 of argument, defends this truth against all the objections with which it 
 can be assailed. United, they place the episcopal constitution of the 
 church on the firm foundation of Scripture, antiquity, and sound reason. 
 
 The opinion advanced by Sir Peter King, and since by others, th^t a 
 bishop was originally the head of only one congregation, and possessed no 
 diocesan authority, is entirely refuted and expose<l by Slater, in his 
 Original Draught of the Primitive Church. And much valuable informa- 
 tion on this subject may be found in Ji Guide to the Church,* by Charles 
 Daubeny, L. L. B. a presbyter of the Church of Rngland. 
 
 The principles advanced in this Companion for the Altar, on the subject 
 of the Christian ministry, having been violently assailed, the author found 
 it necessary to vindicate them in " An Apology for Apostolic Order and 
 its Advocates.'* 
 
 * Some years since printed, from the London edition, for Tsaac Beers 
 fe Co. of Xew-Haven, and »ow sold by T. & J. Swords, No. 127 Broad- 
 way, New-York. 
 
 THE END. 
 
Date Due 
 
 fy ^ 
 
 
 
 
 US^Hm 
 
 ¥ 
 
 
 
 '^Jia.*--*': 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
ft>ar.f;-:. • ■■•••><»'>.