as much as in me lies, all occasions and opportunities of sin, and by a religious use of thy holy ordinances both in public and private, to cherish the good disposi tions which thou hast raised in my heart. With these desires and resolutions of obedience for the future, I approach thy holy table, in an humble assurance, through faith, in my crucified Saviour, to receive the comfortable pledges of my pardon for all that is past. Do thou, who art a God ready to pardon, and abundant in mercy, blot out all my known and wilful transgressions, and cleanse me from my secret faults. And that I may faithfully keep my part of the covevant for the time to come, and continue thy obedient servant unto my life's end; vouchsafe me, in the partaking of these holy mysteries, such a portion of thy good spirit, as thou shalt see necessary to guide me in all my ways, and preserve me from all temptations, and to keep up in me a true Christian temper of soul. That so being justified by faith, and strengthened with might by thy spirit in the inner man, I may be restored to thy favour, and continually live to him who died for me, thy son, my only Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. T SECTION II. How we ought to behave ourselves in the recieving the Holy Sacrament. IF there be time while others are mak ing their offerings, the two last prayers may be said privately; to renew your sorrow for the sins of your life, and to confirm your vows and resolutions a gainst them, and also to revive upon your heart, such thoughts and meditations as are suitable to the nature of the Holy Sacrament, and the end and design of your coming to it. When you make your own offering, say, ACCEPT, O Lord, this free-will offering at my hands, towards the relief of my poor brethren and fellow members of the body of Christ. When the minister begins the prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church, let every Communicant join with him, and proceed devoutly with the congregation, till the consecration of the bread and wine is over. When the minister and others are receiving, let your heart dwell upon the redemption of mankind by the death of Christ, in these or the like meditations. O My God, I adore thy infinite love in sending thy only son out of thy bosom, to recover me out of a state of sin and death, and to raise me to the joyful hopes of everlasting life. May the remembrance of this unspeakable goodness and mercy, teach me always to love thee, and to live as becomes the redeemed of the Lord. O Blessed Jesus, who didst take upon thee the form of a servant, and was content to be reproached and persecuted, to be buffetted, mocked, and spit upon, and to submit to a most painful and ignominious death, and all this for my sake: fill my soul with the most grateful sense of thy love towards me, that I may ever love and live to thee, who diedst for me. And pierce my heart with a most tender feeling of thy ago. nies and sufferings for me, that I may think nothing too much to suffer for thy sake, nor be ever drawn to crucify thee afresh by returning to my former sins. When the minister is drawing near you, and before you receive the bread, fix your thoughts upon Jesus Christ dying for the sins of the world, and say in your heart, I behold by faith my crucified Lord dying for me; and as my only Saviour and Redeemer, I adore and worship him. O Lord, increase and enliven my faith; and grant, that through his merits who died and rose again for me, I may receive the remission of my sins, and the comfortable assistance of thy holy spirit. When the Minister is delivering the bread to you, go on with him in your heart, and say, THE body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for me, preserve my body and soul unto everlasting life: I take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for me, and feed on him in heart by faith and thanksgiving. my The space between your receiving the bread and the winé may be usefully employed in the foregoing meditations, which you dwelt upon while the Minis |