more diligently and faithfully. God grant our communions may be more numerous, and communicants more eminent and exemplary for every Christian virtue! The Lord's fupper is undoubtedly a moft excellent inftitution; and were it but improved as it ought, would appear to be fo to the conviction of the whole world. Would to God that all thofe, who, in obedience to the command of their Master, eat and drink at his table in remembrance of him, would duly confider this; taking care to behave at all times fuitably to the dignity of their character, the folemn nature of their vows and engagements, and the greatnefs of their obligations. Then would others, feeing their good works, glorify their Father who is in heaven; and not be easy till they had joined with them in celebrating the memory of our common Lord and Saviour; faying, Come, and let us also go to this feast, "and at once honour Chrift, and promote, "as they have done, our edification in holi"nefs and comfort:" then would the church of Christ be more glorious and beautiful, and his religion a fource of more abounding and more permanent pleasure and satisfaction: then, in a word, as the excellence and ufefulness of all the commandments and institutions of the gospel would be evident, fo particularly of the Lord's fupper; for which we should efteem ourselves obliged to praise God, as in it we do for his wonderful goodness to the children of men.

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110

Devotional Exercises relating to the LORD'S SUPPER, before, or preparatory to receiving.

To the READER.

THE author's defign in this little prefent which he makes the public, is not to confine and fetter the devotion of pious communicants, but affift it, by furnishing them with materials for meditation, which they may have always at hand, to make use of when and in what manner they judge convenient.

Souls

the best turned for the exercises of the fpiritual life, have not at all times the fame happy flow of thought, or liveliness of affection; and when this is the cafe, that their usual activity fails them, who can tell but they may find fomething or other here which may help to roufe their attention, to lead them into a train of thinking, and fo fan the facred fire, that it may burn the more brightly? And if this may be fuppofed of thefe fuperior fouls, much more of thofe in lower claffes. As devotion, true, enlightened devotion, is one of the most fublime, and, withal, moft delightful and useful attainments of the human mind, being not only a very great fupport and refreshment to it, a fort of heavenly mufic in the houfe of its pilgrimage, but a confiderable help to the most animated practice of all virtue and goodness; I shall efteem myself not a little happy to con-. tribute

tribute in any degree to the spreading, or the exercife and improvement of fo excellent a dif pofition. I have fincerely attempted it; and have nothing further I can do, but to commend what follows to the bleffing of God, and the reader's candid and ferious perufal. Farewel.

H. G.

N

SE CT. I.

OW, O my foul, that thou art retired from the world, let me afk thee, as in the prefence of the all-knowing God, Haft thou ever feriously confidered thy nature, thy intereft, and thy dangers? that thou art a fpiritual being, reasonable and immortal, capable of other and nobler pleasures than thou receiveft from the enjoyments of the world, and by the inftrumentality of the body, of a higher and more permanent felicity than falls within the limits of this tranfitory life; and that, without a great deal of thought and care, thou art liable to be excluded from all title to this, which is thy proper portion; and, at the fame time, deprived of all thofe inferior good things, which thou art too apt to mistake for it, and to place in the room of it; inftead of attaining hap piness, the thing thou art feeking after, to fall into a state of mifery, from which there is no hope of rifing again? Haft thou confi.. dered, O my foul, what the Son of God hath done to awaken thee out of the common lethargy,

K 2

thargy, to cure thee of thy blindness, to purchafe happiness for thee, and to direct, affift, and animate thee in the purfuit of it? Acknowledge, O my foul, the infinite obligations, under God, the first mover, to the Redeemer of mankind, the great lover of fouls; who, to ranfom them from the evils they fuffered, or were expofed to, and to raife them to the highest degrees of perfection and bleffednefs their nature and faculties would admit of, came down from the bofom of the Father into this finful world, clothed himself with human flesh, and human infirmities, taught the most excellent doctrine, inforced it by the most perfect example, and the most precious and divine promifes, and freely feals it with his own blood, which we are taught to regard not only as the blood of a martyr, but an atoning facrifice; who eftablished a church, or fociety of faithful perfons, and took care that nothing should be wanting for its prefervation in the world, and continual edification in faith, and holiness, and charity, and confolation! And canft thou deny any thing to fuch a friend, fuch a benefactor as Jefus hath been to thee? When he hath provided thee with all the means and affiftances thou needeft, in order to thy going on to perfection, among others, with the inftitution of the holy fupper, fhouldft thou not thankfully accept, and faithfully improve them? O my foul, refolve, and let nothing turn thee from thy purpose, that the ferving and imitating thy Saviour, and preparing thyfelf for that blef

fed

fed immortality which he hath procured for, and revealed and promifed to thee, shall be thy chief aim, thy conftant employment, during the rest of thy pilgrimage upon earth!

SE C T. II.

OUT what is it, O my foul, that thy Saviour requires of thee! I hear him faying,-Do this in remembrance of me.—But what is it that he would have us do? Is it to make ourselves of no reputation, and become poor, for his fake, as he did for ours; to renounce every thing that this life hath in it moft valuable and pleafant; to afflict the body with painful and ufelefs aufterities; and to retreat from all the affairs and converfation of the world, into barren defarts and frightful folitudes? No fuch thing; though, had he bid thee give him fome fuch fevere proofs of thy remembrance of him as thefe, thou couldft not in gratitude have refused them: how much more, when he only injoins thee, in a religious manner, to make ufe of bread and wine as facramental memorials of his body broken, and his blood fhed for us! How eafy the command! and how inexcufable thofe who, calling themselves the disciples of Chrift, will not, through fome fault of their own, be perfuaded to do as they are commanded, or do it negligently and indevoutly! Haft thou never heard and admired at the cruelties which the worshippers of falle gods,