wholly given up to him, and governed according to his liking; and therefore every confiderate man will freely refign up his heart to Christ, and never fuffer the world, or his own fins, to pull it back again.

4. At the fame time that we thus refign up our felves to our Saviour's ufe, we must heartily repent of all our fins, faithfully promifing never more to yield to them, but to amend them all for the time to come.-To repent particularly of all our fins, we must firft difcover them, by taking a diftinct furof the duties which our religion requires of us, and examining our own hearts at every one, whether we have confented to tranfgrefs them. And where we find we have done fo, there we must bemoan our felves, and fully refolve, that if God will be pleased to pardon what is past, we will never yield to do the like again.

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And what man will not thus ftedfaftly refolve to leave all his fins, who has the patience to confider, what will be the end of his continuance in them? For by that, we fhall infinitely offend our most blessed Lord and Saviour, who gave his own life for ours,

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and whom therefore we are bound to please above all perfons; we shall certainly lose all the joys of heaven, and eternal happiness, a lofs which the whole world put together cannot recompence; we fhall unavoidably be doomed to hell-fire and eternal torments, which is the utmost height of mifery that can poffibly befal us. This will infallibly be the effect of our perseverance, and allowance of our felves, in any fins which we find our felves guilty of.

And now let us afk our own fouls, Whether we love them fo well, that we will endure all this, rather than forego them? Shall we prize our fin to that degree, as for its fake to act despite to our bleffed Lord, who died for us? Muft it be dearer to us than his love, that we fhould dishonour and offend him whenfoever it bids us? Is this the return which we make, to our dearest and best friend, namely, to fide with his profeffed enemy? Is this our thankfulness for all his kindness, to stick to a fin, which aims at nothing but our deftruction, rather than to him who gave his own life to fave ours? Perhaps we love the fin dearly: but can we value it at fuch a rate, as to part

with everlasting life for it? Had we rather have it, than enjoy the face of God, and be for ever happy? Are we content, for the fhort and unfatisfying pleasures which it affords, to lofe all the joys and glories of a bleffed eternity? Will we die fooner than be divorced from it? and accompany it even into the flames of hell, and the midst of eternal torment?

God forbid, will every man fay, whofe heart is thus particularly examined thereupon, that ever he fhould be fo defperately mad, and unaccountably wicked. When he confiders this, he cannot do defpite to fo dear a Lord, nor throw away the eternal joys of the heavenly state, nor endure the most exquifite smart of hell, and the infupportable load of everlasting torment. No man can bear it, and it must amaze him to think of it.

And therefore fince this will be the effect of our wicked ways, and of our allowed continuance therein, we ought to resolve from this moment to renounce them, and by the help of God never return to them any more.

Thus, let the drunkard think with himfelf on his cups, the fwearer on his oaths

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and perjury, the unjust man on his unlawful gain, the contentious on his quarrels, the unclean perfon on his forbidden plea fures, the revengeful man on his fpiteful carriage, the flanderer and evil speaker on his reproachful words, backbitings, and defamations, and every other finner on his particular fins. And when they seriously confider, that this Saviour must be loft, this happiness of heaven forfeited, and this eternal anguish and extremity of pain endured, if they allow themselves ftill to go on, and persist in them; they will instantly refolve to forfake them, and never yield to be guilty of them again.

And thus therefore we may discharge the duties of this feaft, by exciting and actuating in our own minds, that thankfulness, and charity, and refignation, and repentance, which are to render us fit and worthy of the fame.

BUT, nevertheless, when all this is done, and this folemn feaft is concluded, we must not think for all that, that the work of worthy receiving is entirely at an end. For one thing ftill remains, which muft employ us after

afterwards; and that is, a careful performance of all those promises which we made to God in this holy ordinance.

In the bleffed facrament, we seek not only a pardon for what is paft, but also refolve and promise amendment for the future. And these promises muft be made good afterwards, and it must be our care, whilst we live, to fulfil them.

This we are highly concerned to do, and it will greatly increase our guilt and condemnation if we fall fhort of it. For if we return to our former fins again, after we have thus folemnly vowed to forfake them, we are falfe to our word, and treacherous where we feem to be moft fincere, and feek more especially to be trufted. We break our faith with God, and go about to delude his expectation, had he been capable to be impofed upon, and believed as we would have had him which is as great an abuse as we can well put upon him.

Thus highly are we concerned, to perform the promises which we made at the table of our Lord.

And this we shall be very like to do, if we think often of them every day, for fome