vine life. O that we may be planted together in the likeness of Christ's resurrection, that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life.

We sanctify this day also to the honour of the eternal Spirit, that blessed Spirit of grace, the Comforter, rejoicing at the remembrance of the descent of the Spirit upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost, the first day of the week likewise. We bless thee, that when Jesus was glorified, the Holy Ghost was given to make up the want of his bodily presence, to carry on his undertaking, and to ripen things for his second coming; and that we have a promise that he shall abide with us for ever. And now we pray that the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, may dwell and rule in every one of us to make us partakers of a new and divine nature. Come, O blessed Spirit of grace, and breathe upon these dry bones, these dead hearts of ours, that they may live and be in us a spirit of faith and love and holiness, a spirit of power and a sound mind.

O Lord, we bless thee for thy holy word, which is a light to our feet, a lamp to our paths, and which was written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope; that the scriptures are preserved pure and entire to us, and that we have them in a language that we understand. We beg that we may not receive the grace of God herein in vain. We bless thee, that our eyes see the joyful light, and our ears hear the joyful sound of a Redeemer and a Saviour, and of redemption and salvation by him; that life and immortality are brought to light by the Gospel. Glory be to God in the highest, for in and through Jesus Christ there is on earth peace, and good will towards men.

We bless thee for the great gospel-record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son

Lord, we receive it as a faithful saying, and well worthy of all acceptation; we will venture our immortal souls upon it and we are encouraged by it to come to thee, to beg for an interest in the mediation of thy Son. O let him be made of God to us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption: let us be effectually called into fellowship with him, and by faith be united to him, so that Christ may live in us, and we may grow up into him in all things, who is the head; that we may bring forth fruit in him, and whatever we do in word or deed, we may do all in his name. O let us have the Spirit of Christ, that thereby we may make it appear we are his; through him we pray that we may have eternal life, that we may none of us come short of it, but may all of us have the first fruits and earnest of it abiding in us.

We bless thee for the new covenant made with us in Jesus Christ; that when the covenant of innocency was irreparably broken, so that it was become impossible for us to get to heaven by that covenant, thou wast then pleased to deal with us upon new terms; that we are under grace, and not under the law; that this covenant is established upon better promises in the hand of a Mediator. Lord, we fly for refuge to it, we take hold of it as the hope set before us. O receive us graciously into the bond of this covenant, and make us accepted in the beloved according to the tenor of the covenant. Thou hast declared concerning the Lord Jesus, that he is thy beloved Son in whom thou art well pleased, and we humbly profess that he is our beloved Saviour in whom we are well pleased: Lord, be well pleased with us in him.

O that our hearts may be filled this day with pleasing thoughts of Christ and his love to us, that great love wherewith he loved us. O the admirable dimensions of that love; the height, and depth, and length, and breadth of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge!

Let this love constrain us to love him, and to live to him, who died for us, and rose again. O that it may

be a pleasure and mighty satisfaction to us to think that while we are here praying at the footstool of the throne of grace, our blessed Saviour is sitting at the right hand of the throne of glory, interceding for us. We earnestly beg that through him we may find favour with thee our God, and may be taken into covenant and communion with thee.

We humbly pray thee, for his sake, forgive all our sins, known and unknown, in thought, word, and deed; through him let us be acquitted of the guilt, and accepted as righteous in thy sight; let us not come into condemnation, as we have deserved: let our iniquity be taken away, and our sin covered: and let us be clothed with the spotless robe of Christ's righteousness, that the shame of our nakedness may not appear. O let there be no cloud of guilt to interpose between us and our God this day, and to intercept our comfortable communion with him. And let our lusts be mortified and subdued that our corruptions may not be as a clog to us, to hinder the ascent of our souls heaven-wards.

We pray thee, assist us in all the religious services of this thine own holy day; go along with us to the solemn assembly, for if thy presence go not up with us, wherefore should we go up? give us to draw nigh to thee with a true heart, with a free heart, with a fixed heart and in full assurance of faith. Meet us with a blessing: grace thine own ordinances with thy presence, that special presence of thine which thou hast promised there, where two or three are gathered together in thy name. Help us against our manifold infirmities, and the sins that do most easily beset us in our attendance upon thee: let thy word come with life and power to our souls, and be as good seed sown in good soil, taking root, and bringing forth fruit to thy praise; and let our prayers and

praises be spiritual sacrifices, acceptable in thy sight, through Christ Jesus; and let those that tarry at home divide the spoil.

Let thy presence be in all the assemblies of good Christians this day: grace be with all them that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity; let great grace be upon them all. In the chariot of the everlasting gospel, let the great REDEEMER ride forth triumphantly, conquering and to conquer; and let every thought be brought into obedience to him: let many be brought to believe the report of the gospel, and to many let the arm of the Lord be revealed: let sinners be converted unto thee, and thy saints edified and built up in faith, holiness, and comfort unto salvation: complete the number of thine elect, and hasten thy kingdom.

Now the Lord of peace himself give us peace always by all means. The God of hope fill us with joy and peace in believing, for Christ Jesus' sake, our blessed Saviour and Redeemer, who hath taught us to pray, Our Father which art in heaven, &c.

A Family Prayer for the Lord's Day Evening.

O eternal, and for ever blessed and glorious Lord God! Thou art God over all, and rich in mercy to all that call upon thee, most wise and powerful, holy, just, and good; the King of kings, and Lord of lords; our Lord and our God.

Thou art happy without us, and hast no need of our services, neither can our goodness extend unto thee, but we are miserable without thee; we have need of thy favours, and are undone, for ever undone, if thy goodness extend not unto us, and therefore, Lord, we entreat thy favour with our whole hearts: O let thy favour be towards us in Jesus Christ, for our happiness is bound up in it, and it is to us better than life. We confess we have forfeited thy favour, we have rendered ourselves ut

terly unworthy of it; yet we are, humbly bold to pray for it in the name of Jesus Christ, who loved us, and gave himself for us.

We bewail it before thee, that by the corruption of our natures we are become odious to thine holiness and utterly unfit to inherit the kingdom of God, and that by our many actual transgressions we are become obnoxious to thy justice, and liable to thy wrath and curse. Being by nature children of disobedience, we are children of wrath, and have reason both to blush and tremble in all our approaches to the holy and righteous God. Even the iniquity of our holy things would be our ruin, if God should deal with us áccording to the desert of them.

But with thee, O God, there is mercy and plenteous redemption: thou hast graciously provided for all those that repent and believe the gospel, that the guilt of their sin shall be removed through the merit of Christ's death, and the power of their sins broken by his Spirit and grace; and he is both ways able to save to the uttermost all those that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives making intercession for us.

We

Lord we come to thee as a Father, by Jesus Christ the Mediator, and earnestly desire, by repentance and faith, to turn from the world and the flesh, to God in Jesus Christ, as our ruler and portion. We are sorry that we have offended thee, we are ashamed to think of our treacherous and ungrateful carriage towards thee. desire that we may have no more to do with sin, and pray as earnestly that the power of sin may be broken in us, as that the guilt of sin may be removed from us: and we rely only upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and upon the merit of his death, for the procuring of thy favour. O look upon us in him, and for his sake receive us graciously; heal our backslidings, and love us freely, and let not our iniquity be our ruin.