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infinite wealth. Haft thou no money to buy, no worth, to purchase? Good news! he fells without money and without price: whofoever will, may come and drink of the water of life freely. Poor foul comest thou hither for bread? Thy gracious Saviour will not give thee a stone. He took notice of thy ferious preparation for the feaft; and, do you think he will fruftrate thine expectation at it? Can you give any inftances, that ever he fent a hungry foul empty away? No; this would be contrary to his faithful promife. I may fay to thee, as the difciples to the blind man, be of good cheer, 'he calleth for thee; and, if he call for thee, he will not fend thee empty away. Come away then, hungry foul, to a full Redcemer, and get all your wants fupplied, your defires fatisfied. What would you have? What is thy petition, and what is thy request? Would you have riches, honours, profits, pleafures? You have them all here. Would you have all your five fenfes fatisfied at once? Come partake of the feast your Redeemer hath provided for you. Would you have the fenfe of feeing fatisfied? Then says he, look unto me, behold me, your dying yet ever-living Saviour.. Would you have your fenfe of hearing fatisfied? Then faith he, incline your ear and hearken to me; hear the fweet charming voice. of your Saviour on the cross, faying, it is finilbed. Would you have your fenfe of tafting fatisfied? Then faith he, O taft and fee that God is good. Would you have the fenfe of touching fatisfied? O then fays he, reach hither thy finger, and feel the print of the nails; reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my fide. Would you have the fenfe of Smelling fatisfied? Then come to him, whofe garments fmell of myrrh, aloes and caf fia; and whole name is like ointment poured forth. O what matchlefs perfon is this, that can fo richly fupply all your needs! I tell you again, if you go away without fupply, it will be for want of a lively dente of your needs, and of panting defires after Chrift. and his fulaefs.

Awake

Awake holy defires and thirstings of foul, and say, Lord, let not the needy be forgotten, nor the expectation of the poor perish for ever. Let not a thirsty foul: perish at the wells of falvation. O happy were I, if at this time I could get a fealed pardon of my fins! O bleffed is he whofe iniquities are forgiven, and whose fin is covered! Lord, whatever thou deny me in the world, do not deny me this choice bleffing. O for a token for good at this time out of Chrift's own hand! May I receive a plentiful effufion of the graces of his fpirit into my heart. O that my lufts and corruptions may be mortified and fubdued! May 1 be enabled to do all my duties better than I have done. May I be more watchful over my heart, my tongue, and all my ways, than ever I have been, O that my foul may depart much bettered, much revived, comforted and ftrengthned from this holy or. dinance !

V. Awake your thankfulness to God at this time for redeeming love. Join with the pfalmift, and fay, blefs the Lord, O my foul, and all that is within me blefs his holy name. Thanks be to God for his unSpeakable gift. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his gifts and benefits unto me! Let me speak of the glorious honour of his Majefty, and declare his wondrous works. You should now be in Mary's frame, to fing and fay, as in Luke i. 46. My foul doth magnify the Lord, and my fpirit doth rejoice in God my Saviour: and in Zechariah's frame, to fay with him, Luke i. 68. Bleed be the Lord God of Ifrael, for he hath vifited and redeemed his people. The ancients called the Lord's fupper ftill the eucharift, i, e. the thankfgiving, be caufe the great defign of it is to keep up the thankful remembrance of God's redeeming love; and believers in partaking of it fhould, with their whole fouls, give thanks unto God for his unspeakable gift, and fing glory to God in the highest. And, for our example herein, our Redeemer both began and ended this inftitution with the giving of thanks, and finging

hymus

hymns of praife. The Jews at their paffover 'did fing the cxiii. Pfalm, with the five following p/alms, which they called the Great Hallelujah. A chriftian fhould in every thing and at all times give thanks, but at the facrament the Great Hallelujah must be lung. If ever the heart be tuned for the work of praise, it fhould be now; for greater matter for it you cannot have on this fide of heaven, than at this occafion. The great exhortation the ancients gave at the communion-table was Surfum corda, up with your hearts, communicants; elevate them to God in thankfulness and praise. Invite the angels and the whole creation to help you to blefs God for Jefus Chrift the mercy of mercies.

Some further Meditations on the Sacramental Elements, Actions and Words..

ESIDES what I have faid, the facramental e

Blements, actions and words may afford fuitable

fubjects of meditation to communicants while they fit at the Lord's table, and may be improven for the quickning and upftirring of the facramental graces above-mentioned. And here I fhall give fome few inftances for the affiftance and direction of weaker Chriftians.

When you fee the elements of bread and wine fet upon the table, think on Chrift's goodness and condefcention, in appointing thefe outward figns to confirm our faith and excite our affections: they are no costly things, Chrift would not be burdenfom to his people with any of his ordinances. Think how fitly they represent the body and blood of our redeemer. Bread, ere it be fit to nourish us, must be firft fown and die in the earth; thenit must be threshed, grinded in the mill, baken in the oven, broken and eaten fo Chrift, that he might be a fit Saviour to us, was content to die, and be bruifed for our fins,

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and fcorched in the oven of his father's wrath. Bread is the moft neceffary thing in the world, it ftrengthens man's heart, it is the ftaff that upholds his life fo Chrift is the mercy of mercies, the most ufeful and neceffary blefling to our ftarving fouls. Wine, ere it be fit for our ufe, must be fqueezed out of the grape, and this must be troden and bruited in the wine-prefs: fo Chrift was crushed in the wineprefs of his father's wrath, till the bleft juice of his body, his precious blood, did gush out in abundance for the redemption of our fouls. No liquor fo fit as wine for cheering the fainting fpirits, Pfal. civ. 15. fo there is nothing can refresh the drooping foul fo much as the blood of Chrift.

Tho' bread and wine be common things of themfelves, yet they are highly valuable in relpect of their fignificancy and ends. A little wax, tho' in itself of small value, yet, when affixed to a charter, it ferves to confirm our right and title to a great inheritance fo thefe elements, when confecrated and given to us by Chrift's ambaffadors, are to us a feal of God's covenant, and confirm our title to all Chrift's purchase.

When we fee the minifter take the bread, think how God did chule and take Chrift from among men to be our mediator, and a facrifice for our fins.

When the minifter fets apart, bleffes and confe crates the bread, think how God fet apart and fent his fon, fanctified and furnished with all gifts and graces needful for his mediatory office.

When you see the confecrated bread and wine expofed to open view, think how God in his infinite mercy bath fet forth Jefus Chrift as a propitiation thro' faith in his blood, Rom. iii. 25. Behold how evidently Chrift crucified is fet forth before your eyes, Behold the lamb opening the feals, the feal of God's covenant, the feal of God's treafures, the feal of the fountain of life, and the feal of heaven's gates; all which were fhut before, till Chrift came to open them. Suppofc

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now you hear that voice, Rev. vi. come and fee. Open the eyes of faith, and fee a great fight. What is to be feen here? You may, O communicant, see here the heinous nature of fin, the feverity of di vine juftice, the mifery of the damned, the defervings of believers: you may fee the devil conquered, justice fatisfied, a flame of love kindled in Christ's heart that many waters could not quench: you may fee the clefts of the rock opened, and a fanctuary found out: you may fee the precioufnels of fouls, the price of pardon, and the worth of heaven. Chrift's body and blood, which were given for them, do fhew that they are things of no fmall value."

When you fee the elements, you have caufe to bless God, and rejoice at the fight of this precious fign and feal of God's covenant of grace and falvation. We should rejoice to fee the rain-bow in the clouds, a fign of God's covenant and promife to fecure the world against a destroying deluge: much more fhould we joy to fee the figns of God's confirming his covenant with believers, fecuring them against the overflowing of God's wrath. If it ftill rained, and never a rain-bow appeared, we might have realon to fear: fo, if we never faw this ordinance and seal of God's covenant, we might fufpect danger; but, O believ er, you fee God is faithful and willing to keep co• venant, there is the rain bow appearing; a pleasant fight to a guilty finner!

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When you fee the minifter lay his hand on the bread, lift up your foul, and pray, that God may 'lay his hand on your difealed foul, that all your deftempers may depart from you: Lord, lay hold on my foul, as the angel did upon Lot: fave me from the flames of wrath, caufe me to efcape out of Sodom into the mount of God, and clefts of the rock, that I perish not.'

When you fee the bread broken, think on the breaking and tormenting of Chrift's body, and the bruising of his foul for our fins, He fuffered a double death,

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