119 had loft and forfeited, Thou waft at the greatest expence and charge imaginable: of the Sovereign Lord of the World, Thou becameft a Servant; of Rich, extremely poor; of th' eternal Word, a Man; fo that tho' I was made of Nothing, yet I was not Redeem'd by Nothing. Thou fpentet but fix days to Create and Frame the World, but three and thirty years were spent to accomplish my' Ransom, and Reftitution to God's favor; and O what Trouble, what Mifery was this thy Life filled withal ? Thou didst humble thy felf to Flefh, to Death, to death of the Crofs! To effect this glorious Work, Thou waft content to be clad in flesh, to be punish'd with death, and to be disgraced by the Cross, for this miferable Worm. Thou didst do much and fuffer much, that I might love Thee much; and because the facility of my Creation did not move me much, Thou therefore waft content to be at an exceffive trouble in my Redemption, thereby to charm my foul the more, and to plant in me greater Refentments of thy Charity. To this end thy fide was opened with a Lance, that all Men might look into thy Wounds, and into thy very heart, and fee how it bled for Love. this end thy Sacred Head did bend to the East, thy Feet were extended to the Weft, and thine Arms spread to the North and South, to let all People in all Parts of the World fee how much Thou loveft them, and thereby to draw their Hearts, and Unite them to thy felf for ever. Oʻlet not mine be cold under this Wonderful fight! and while I fee my God buffetted, my God crown'd with thorns, my God ftruck on the Face, and my God giving up the Ghoft, let all that is within me be touch'd, and quicken'd, and inliven'd, and incouraged to cleave; and to cling to Thee for ever. imen. Amen.

To

The general Preparatory Prayer, as ch. 1. §. 15. $. 12. A Night Ejaculation before I fleep.any Night.

O Bleffed Savior, who, by thy precious Death and Burial, didt take away the fting of Death, and the Power of the Grave, grant me the joyful Fruits of that thy Victory: and be Thou to me in Life and Death advantage. I will lay me down in peace and take my reft: for it is Thou, LORD, only that makeft me dwell in fafery.I .Into F 6

thy

thy hands I commend my Spirit for Thou had redeemed me, O LORD, Thou God of Truth. Amen.

CHAP. IX.

SATURDAY, or the day before the blessed Eucharift.

The Soliloquy in th' Introduction §. 8. and One of the fix former Morning Ejaculations, before I rife.

§. 1. VII Argument for the Frequency of holy Communion: FROM our Obligation to itfin point of Intereft, and Grat itude. That it is our greatest Intereft appears plainly by ch. 4, §. 4, ch. 5. §. 3, and the foregoing 4, 5, 6th. Arguments; And this being a Commemoration, nay, Re prefentation of That which alone makes all other Services acceptable to God; and the principal Way and Means whereby we have Communion with Chrift, from whom we ftand in continual need of the Communication of his Grace; In neglecting this Sacrament, we neglect our own Benefit and Happiness, we forfake our own Mercies, and judge our felves Unworthy of all the Blefidgs of the Gofpel, and deprive our felves of one of the best Means and Advantages of conveying and confirming thofe Bleffings and Comforts to us. If we had a juft Esteem of things, we should account it the greatest Judgment and Infelicity in the World to be debarr'd of this Priviledge, which yet we do deliberately, and frequently debar our felves of. In vain do we bemoan the decay of our Graces, and our flow progrefs and improvement in Christianity, whilft we wilfully defpife the Means of our Growth in Goodness. And moreover well do we deserve that God should fend leannefs into our fouls, and make them to confume and pine away in perpetual Doubtings and trouble, if when God Himself does spread a bountiful Table for us, and set before us the Bread of Life, we will not come and feed upon it with joy and Thankfulness. Men ufe religiously to obferve, the Charge of a Lying friend, and to do what he defires, but this is the Charge of our best Friend, nay of the greatest friend and Benetactor of all Mankind, when He was preparing Himself to dy in our Stead, and to offer

up

up Himself a Sacrifice for us, to undergo the most griev ous pains and Sufferings for our fakes, and to yield up Himfelf to the worst of Temporal deaths, that He might deliver us from the bitter pains of Eternal death: And can we deny Him any thing He asks, who was going to do all this for us? Had fuch a Friend, and in fuch Circumftances, bid us do fome great thing, would we not haul done it? how much more when He has only faid, Do this in Remembrance of Me. When He has only commended to us one of the most Natural, and Delightful Actions, as a fit Reprefentation and Memorial of his wonderful Love to us, aud of his cruel fufferings for our fakes? When He has only injoyn'd us in a thankful Commemoration of his Goodness, to meet at his Table, aud to Remember what He has done for us; to look upon Him whom we have pierced, and refolve to grieve and wound Him no more? Can we without the most horrible Ingratitude neglect this Dying Charge of our Sovereign and our Savior, the great Friend and Lover of Souls? A Commandfo reafonable, fo eafy, fo full of Bleffings and Benefits to the faithful Obfervers of it? One wou'd think 'twere no difficult matter to convince Men of their Duty in this par ticular, and of the Neceffity of obferving fo plain an Inftitution of our Lord; that it were no hard thing to perfuade men to their Intereft, and to be willing to partake of thofe great and manifold Blessings which all Chriftians believe to be promised and made good to the Worthy an Frequent Receivers of this Sacrament. Petrus Cluniacenfis having understood of the Petrobrufians that they had a Communion but once a year, thus expoftulates with them, You fay once only, but Chrift and his Apoftles fay, no: ,, once, or twice, or thrice, or 100, or 1000 times on. ly, but as often as ye do it: there is a great differenc ,,between as often, and once, or twice, or thrice, &c. ,, here is the beginning of Numbers; but the other exp ef ,, fion exceeds all Numbers; here is more fingularity, but i ,,the other is in finite Multiplicity. He that loves Chrift fervently, will defire to be with Him frequently and Sinc: the Communion Table is the Place whereto He has fo love ingly invited him, he'll be as often there as has oppor.u iries, except hind'red by Sickness, or fome fuch inevita ble Impediment, to hear the joyful found of Pardon, and

:

to

to Rejoyce in the Lord, and walk in the Light of his Couns tenance. P/. 89. 16

§. 3. The Meditation of Chrift's Pathion is called by Damian (who is faid to be fent, with Fulgatius, in the year 181. by Eleuther us the 15th. Bishop of Rome, to Lucius King of great Brittain, at his request, and inftructed in the Gospel and Baptized him and his fubjects; which fame Lucius is faid to have been the firft Chriftian King of the World.)

"

THE Believers Refuge in the Hour of Temptation, , his fhide in the heat and fweat of Affliction, th' ever,, lafting Fewel of Divine Love; and the beft fauce or Re medy in all Troubles and Vexations. It is a neceflary Act of Preparation for this holy Sacrament, because in Meditating thereon, laying one of the holy Evangelists before me, who have all (but S. Luke moft fully) given exact account of their and my Matter's Sufferings, efpecially in the laft Scene of his Life here on earth, I make fpiritual Reflections either on the whole Hiftory in general, or on fome of the Principal parts coutain'd in it, as likewife on my Self; by inlarging on the Paffages of his Paffion, How He was unjustly accused of the Jews, Beaten, Buffeted, Crown'd with thorns, inhumanely Murder'd &c: And, THIS can't but be very Inftructive to my Mind: for This reprefents the vaft multitude of his Trou bles and Miferies, How every Member of his Body was put to grievous Pains; his Head crown'd with Thorns, his Hair plucked off by the crual ufage He indured, his Cheeks beaten, his Face fullied, his Back crush'd, his Neck and Arms tyed with cords, his Shoulders bruif'd by the Cross, his Hands and Feet pierced with nails, his Side opened with à Lance, and his whole Body made black and blue with ftripes. How all his Senfes fuffer'd, his Eyes feeing the mockeries of the multitude, his Ears hearing the blafphemies of his enemies, his Smell forced to indure the stench of dead bodies on mount Calvery, his Tafte tormented with thirst, and which is worse with gall, and his Feeling with variety of blows. How He fuffer'd in his Honor and Reputation, by being call'd a glutton, a wine-bibber, a blafphemer, a ftirrer up of the people, and poffefs'd with a devil; In his Wisdom, by being call'd an impoftor, aud treated like a fool and mad-man; In his Power, by being accufed as a Magician, as one that dealt with a familiar,

and

123 and was in league with the prince of devils. How his pains and torments became more pungent and afflictive by reafon of the delicacy of his Complexion, how his Imagination being moft lively had therefore a quicker fenfe of mifery ; How his torments came without mixture, without a drop of honey to sweeten it. This fuggefts how his soul indu red more, far more yet than his Body and Senses, the Sins of Manking lying like a heavy Load upon Him, how He was afflicted with a fenfe of God's anger against sio, and with the damnation of thousands that would not prevent their own ruine; and as the fins of Mankind were without number, fo his grief and forrow was without mea fure. This fuggefts the Dignity of the Perfon that fuffered all this, not a meer Man, not a mortal King, notan Angel, not one of the higher order of miniftring Spirits, but the Son of God that laid down his Life, a life more precious than the lives of all created beings put together.This puts me in mind of th' indignity of the perfous for whom He fuffer'd, what vile creatures we were, creatures of whom He could expect no advantage, nor tear any danger, and fuch as were his enemies. This reprefents how all forts of perfons did contribute to his Sufferings; a Difci. ple whom He had nourished and brought up in the nur ture and admonition of the Lord, Kings and Governors, Judges, Hartlots, Soldiers, High-Priests, Scribes, Phar ifees, Ecclefiafticks, Seculars, Jews & Gentiles. Men and Women. All these things put together make Him the Martyr of Martyrs, and King of all afflicted Saints; and upon thefe accounts may be faid to have indured more than all Men pur together ever fuffer'd in this World. This puts me alfo in mind, with what Affection He fuffer'd, how He chofe to fuffer for the joy and comfort He fhould thereby procure to all fincere Believers; how Love to Men's Souls ingaged Him to thofe Sufferings, how to teftify his infinite Love to men's Souls, He fhed every drop of his Bloud in his Body for our Sakes; with what Fervency and Earnestness He went to meet his Crofs; and in order thereto bad the traitor make hafte, and dispatch what he defign'd to do; and with what Alacrity He imbraced his Torments, and therefore fung a Hynn with his Difciples before He was apprehended by the murtherers; to fhow the Joy He took ia laying down his Life for his fheep. Secondly, IT iz. flames