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hides his face from thee, thou art afraid thou doft not belong to him; thou feest not thy former tokens, nor feel'ft thofe gracious influences, which formerly water'd and enriched all thy faculties; but haft thou fuch low conceits of the everlasting kindness of thy God, O my Soul! why should thou believe he hath forfaken thee, when he doth give thee daily teftimonies of his love? What greater afsurance canft thou have of God's love to thee, and of Chrift's kind thoughts towards thee, than thy weariness of fin? Haft not thou heard thy Saviour call, Come to me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give ye reft? Art not thou weary of iniquity? Hadft not thou rather be rid of that burthen, than keep it? if thou art not heartily refolv'd to part with it Why dost thou complain? What makes thee cry out, O wretched creature that I am, who fall deliver me from the body of this death? What makes thee with, that what thou hast done against God, were undone? What makes thee afraid of offending God? Why doft thou weep? Why doft thou watch against thy corptions.? What makes thee angry with thy felf for difpleafing God? What makes thee breathe and pant after Christ, as the wounded Hart pants after the Water-brooks? What makes Chrift fo fweet, and fin fo bitter to thee? What makes thee afham'd of looking up to Heaven? Whence is it, that all the preferment and riches of this world cannot tempt thee to

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fin wilfully? whence is it that thou delightest not in the company of finners; but thy delight is chiefly in them that fear the Lord? If thefe be not figns of Grace, what character of mer-cy would't thou have? Hath not thy God !faid, that He'll love thofe that do love him? if thou lov❜st him not, why art thou-restless till thou enjoyeft him? if thou loveft him not, why dost thou defire him? why art thou wil ling to follow him through mifery, and the -greateft troubles, to be for ever with him? Thou haft infirmities to wrestle withal, but hath not thy God promis'd thee, that he'll bruife Satan under thy feet fhortly? thou canst not totally mafter fuch a corruption, but dost not thou fight against it? thou meeteft with temptations, but doft not thou grapple with them? Satan follows thee, but doft not thou refift him? thy Confcience terrifies thee, but hast -not thou the Crofs of Chrift to flie to? If God had a mind to kill thee, would he have fhewn thee all these things? If God were gone from thee, would not his Spirit be gone too? if thou haft not the Spirit of God, what mean thy longings after God? what means thy love to a Spiritual life? why doft thou pray fo earnestly for the fruit of the Spirit? why art thou altogether for a clean heart, and for renewing of a right Spirit within thee? are not thefe figns that God's Spirit warms thy affe ctions, and makes interceffions for thee with groanings which cannot be uttered? God seems

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to go away, that thou may'st cry more earnestly after him, and clouds his comforts, that thou may'st fue for them with greater importunity; he lets thee fink a little, that thou may'st cry with a louder voice, Lord, fave me, or elfe I perish; and falls afleep in the Ship, that thou may'st take the greater pains to wake him. He fees thou grow't weary of his favour, he therefore darkens it, that thou may'st be at some trouble to recover it, and having recover'd it, fet a greater price upon't; he withdraws himfelf for a while, that at his return thy joy may be fuller; and bids his gracious influences stopa while, that when they flow in upon thee again, they may fill all thy faculties with greater gladnefs; thou canst not perform thy Duties with that alacrity and chearfulness thou defireft, but haft not thou reafon to blefs God, that thou do'st in good earnest desire to do better? was Heaven purchas'd in a moment, or fin conquer'd in an hour? is not the way to life a race, where men must run on till they reach the mark? Go on, O my Soul, go on; the farther thou procecdeft in God's ways, the sweeter thou wilt find them; the more thou strivest, the more thou'lt conquer; and the oftner thou doft address thy felf to God, the more thy dulnefs and weariness will vanith, and the more thou lookeft upon the everlasting recompence, the greater mind thou wilt have to go on from ftrength to strength. O my Soul, hope in God, for I fhall yet praise him,

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who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

IV. It difpofes a man to be a worthy receiver of the Lord's Supper. Indeed I do not fee how, without it, a man can receive any benefit by that bleffed Sacrament: for it being an Ordinance defigned chiefly to impregnate the Soul with very ftrong longings and breathings after a crucified Saviour, with a deep fenfe of the incomprehen fible love of God in Chrift Jefus, and with earneft refolutions to love and obey him, before all the dictates of flesh and blood, and of our carnal intereft, it is not to be conceiv'd, which way the Soul fhould arrive to all this, without confidering the end, nature, and advantages of this Sacrament; and it's probable, a man may then be affected with this fublime mystery,when he rouzes his Soul fome fuch way as this, Doft thou rightly understand, O my Soul, what this great and tremendous Ordinance means? Behold, thou art going to feaft with that God, who Stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and lays the beams of his chambers in the waters, and makes the clouds his chariots, and rideth upon the wings of the wind. What, feaft with fo glorious a God, and come without a Wedding garment? Sup with him, who dwelleth in the Heavens and not purifie thy felf even as he is pure? Can two walk together except they be agreed? what fellowship hath righteoufnefs with unrighteoufnefs?and what communion hath light with dark

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nefs? what concord hath Chrift with Belial? what agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols? This is the great Ordinance, O my Soul, which muft either promote thy everlasting happiness, or aggravate thy everlasting condemnation; how happy may'ft thou be, if this Sacrament charms thee into a fervent love to thy dear Redeemer? but how wilt thou escape, if thou neglect so great falvation? Here are the greatest engagements, the greateft motives to a life, as becomes the Gospel of Chrift; here God adjures thee (to use the words of the Church) by Chrift's agony and bloody sweat, by his cross and paffion, by his death and burial, to bury thy unclean defires, and inordinate affections, and to dedicate thy felf, and all thou hast, to his service. Here is reprefented the greatest love that ever was vouchfafed to men; here the Son of God appears all bloody to fright thee from thy fins; here Chrift is, as it were, as it were, crucified before thine eyes, that remembring what it was that brought him to his Crofs, thou mayft mourn, as one that mourns for his only fon. Here Chrift appears laden with all the bleffings of Heaven; here the everlasting Trinity feems to use its utmost endeavours to perfwade thee into a heavenly conversation: here the desert of fm is dif cover'd in the wounds and torments of an infinite God; and hither thou comeft, O my Soul, to renew thy Baptismal vow; hither thou comeft to enter into a folemn Covenant with God and faithfully to promise him to refign thy felf entirely

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