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to temptations, tempt me not from my allegiance and fidelity: The vows of God are upon me sealed at the facrament, and recorded in heaven: Not one of my fellow communicants, but will be witneffes for God, that they faw me perfonally and publicly own and renew my covenant with him: Wherefore, for my oath's fake, and thofe that fat with me, I will not do this evil, and fin againft God. Shall I alienate and pollute the heart fo folemnly devoted to God? Shall I make light of my oath, turn difloyal to my King, and falfe to my God? Shall I ever be fo ingrate or perfidious, as forget his kindness to me, or my vows to him? Shall he efcape that doth fuch things? or, fhall he break the covenant and be delivered?

Thou haft great need to pray that God may fix the lafting impreffion of thy vows upon thy heart, for it is naturally deceitful, prone to forget God and gad after the vanities of time Cry with the Pfalmift, Pfal. cxix, 36. 37. "Incline my heart unto thy teftimonies, and not unto covetoufrefs: Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way." Let me never be fo eager upon the world, as to forget to retire to converfe with my Saviour: Let me never fo perplex myfelf with worldly bufinefs, as to omit to pray, to meditate, to read and fing due praifes to my God. No, no; I will fay to the world and all time's things, I am not at my own difpofal: "I have fworn, and will perform, that I will keep God's righteous judg ments." O how deeply am I obliged to him that has paid my debt! What shall I render unto the Lord ? Lord, though I can do nothing that is fatisfactory, let me do fomething gratulatory. Chrift gave himself a fin-offering for me. let me give myfelf a thank-offering to him, let me offer up myself a living facrifice to my Redeemer, who offered up himself a dying facrifice for my redemption.

DIRECT. VII. See that you crucify Sin, after you have been feeing Chrift Crucified fet forth before your Eyes in the Sacrament.

HATH in been fo cruel as to put to death the Son of God? See that henceforth you have no pity upon the murderer of Christ your Saviour. As Saul eyed David to kill him, fo do you eye thofe traitors, your fus, from this day forward to kill and deftroy them. Never correfpond or parley with them any more; nenever entertain a favourable thought of them; nor give them a kind look again, feeing they have done fo horrid and inexcufable a deed.

O communicant, haft thou seen Chrift fruggling to fatisfy juftice for fin, and fave thee from it; and, will you after all chufe wilfully to walk in fin? Will you not burn the spear that pierced him, and break in pieces the nails that crucified him? Every one of Christ's wounds is a mouth opened to plead for your wounding and killing of fin. Had you feen Chrift wrestling in the garden in his bloody agony, fweating great drops of blood, lying on the ground; had you heard him utter thefe words, "Father, if it be poffible, let this cup pafs from me:" Had you feen his foul befet on all hands by your bloody fins, and even brought to a nonplus, John xii. 27. when he know not (to fpeak with reverence) well what to fay; had you feen him bound, led and nailed to the crofs, with a black angry cloud upon his foul, crying out," My God, my God, why haft thou forfaken me?" Would you not have vowed a revenge upon fin? O could you have loved or hugged the foldier, or been fond of the fpear that pierced his bleffed fide? Well, O communicant, this thou doft, when thou huggeft thy fins, and efpecially when thou entertaineft thy predominant luft or darling fin: Your other fins are as the nails in his hands and feet; but this as the fpear that made a great wound in his fide, and went nearer his heart than any of the reft.

Oh, never fuffer fin to live any more in that you, would not suffer your Saviour to live in the world; ne

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ver allow that a room in your heart, which would not allow him a room amongst the living on earth. O be ware of crucifying Chrift afresh. Never difpute any more, when a temptation is prefented, whether Chrift or Barabbas fhould be preferred; your lufts denied, or Christ crucified: But prefently cry out against your lufts, Crucify them, crucify them." Have you feen God taking off your former burdens, and laying them upon the back of his dear Son, who willingly took them on for you, though they preffed him down to the earth? O then, go not to lay any more loads upon him. Hath he taken you and washed you from your fins in his own blood? O do not return with the fow that is washed to her wallowing in the mire. Hath the Lord been graciously fealing the pardon of your fins? Go not to turn his grace into wantonnefs, by venturing to run on in a new score. lf you have washed your feet in the blood of the Lamb, O beware of defiling them again.

DIRECT. VIII. Walk always under the fenfe of God's all-feeing Eye upon you in every thing you do.

A HOLY and circumfpect walk is what every communicant should endeavour, especially after the facrament; this would tend, not only to your own peace and comfort, but alfo to the glory of God, and the promoting of his intereft and kingdom in the world. Were your lives tender, circumfpect, and fhining in holiness before the world, there would be little need of miracles to confirm the word, or convert infidels; for your converfations would allure ftrangers, and mightily recommend religion unto them; fo that they might thereby be drawn to feek acquaintance with the God of holy communicants, as Nebuchadnezzar was with the God of Daniel and thus you would be inftruments of turning many to righteoufnefs, and fo fhine as the ftars for

ever and ever.

Now, if you would fhine in a holy walk and exemplary converfation, then you must, like Caleb, "walk after Gad," Num. xiv. 24. you muft imitate him in his

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holinefs and purity. Again, you must like Enoch, walk with God, Gen. v. 22. live in communion and fellowfhip with him. And then, you muft, like Abraham, swalk before God, Gen. xvii. 1. live and carry as those who believe he hath a special eye upon you in all that you do. And when you go about any action or bufinefs, fpiritual or temporal, fay to your fouls, "I have a watchful eye over me, that pierceth into all my thoughts, that discovers the principles from which I am acted, and the ends to which I move: Let me act then, as one that ftill believes this, as one that muft fhortly be accountable to God for all I do, and I know not how foon." Or, fay to this purpose, "Now I am going a bout such a business, fuch a duty; and, if Chritt hall fend for me at the end of it, what account will I be able to give of my management to him? What do I know, but at the end of this duty I may either be in Abraham's bofom, or in a gulf of mifery ?"

Walk now in all your fteps, as if you saw Christ crucified before you, breathing forth his dying love to lost finners, and pouring out his blood to cleanse them from fin. Would not that be a great aw-band upon you, to restrain you from fin? Walk now, as a damned foul would walk, were he again to live under the offers of mercy: How diligently (think you) would he obey, how fervently would he pray, and how peremptorily would he reject all temptations to fin? So ought every fincere communicant to do, that intends to please God and walk worthy of the vocation wherewith he is called.

DIRECT. IX. Endeavour to walk cheerfully and contentedly under every lot and condition.

YOU may look for trials and difficulties while you fojourn in this world: But, in midft of all, you should aim to be much in the eunuch's frame after the feal of baptifm, Acts viii. 39. who "went on his way rejoicing." Have you got the feal of God's covenant? Then, whatever your afflictions be, you cannot but have a reviving cordial, for your fins are pardoned.

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worthy communicants fay they are fick, when their iniquities are forgiven them. Should they walk'dejectedly, who have got an intereft in the new covenant fecured, and all the promises and privileges of it ratiñed and confirmed to them? For, what do they want, but is to be had here? Whatfoever is a bleffing is fecured here, either fatЄtified riches, or a contented poverty.

A worthy communicant may fay, Let God do with me as he will in this world, 1 defire to be content, feeing he hath engaged himself to be with me in all states and conditions, and to order all things for my advan tage: Surely" he cannot lie, he cannot deny himfeif;" all his words are oaths for their certainty, and all his provifes "the fure mercies of David." Let my covénanted God chufe out my lot for me, furely it shall be with more wisdom and with more affection than I can chufe for myself. He whom Almighty wisdom and goodness takes a fatherly care of, and hath engaged to feed, cannot but have enough. If Chrift be mine, all things are mine; nothing is excluded, where he is included.

DIRECT. X. Delight in the company of the People of God.

SHAKE off all ungodly fociety, and have your hearts linked to all thofe that bear Chrift's image. Set the Pfalmift's example before your eyes in this matter, Pfal. exix. 115. "Depart from me, ye evil doers, for I will keep the commandments of my God." And verse 63. "I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. It is a true faying of Solomon's, Prov. xiii. 20. "He that walketh with wife men, fhall be wife; but a companion of fools fhall be deftroyed." Make the livelieft of God's people your greatest intimates, and upon all occafions improve their fellowship to the beft advantage. Beware of the cooling of your affections to the people of God; but let that divine fentence ftill run in your minds, John iv. 11. "Beloved, if God fo loved us, we ought alfo to love one another." Let the love of God, manifefted to you at

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