ments of the world, and by the inftru mentality of the body, of a higher and more permanent felicity than falls within the limits of this tranfitory life; and that, without a great deal of thought and care, thou art liable to be excluded from all title to this, which is thy proper portion; and at the fame time deprived of all those inferior good things, which thou art too apt to mistake for it and to place in the room of it, instead of attaining happinefs, the thing thou art feeking after, to fall into a ftate of mifery, from which there is no hope of rifing again? Hafe thou confidered, O my foul, what the Son of God hath done to awaken thee out of the common lethargy, to cure thee of thy blindnefs, to purchafe happiness for thee, and to

rect, affift, and animate thee in

the purfuit of it? Acknowledge, O my foul, thy infinite obligations, under God, the firft mover, to the Redeemer of mankind, the great lover of fouls; who, to ranfom them from the evils they füffered, or were expofed to, and to raise them to the highest degrees of perfection and bleffednefs their nature and faculties would admit of, came down from the bofom of the Father into this finful world, clothed himself with human flesh, and human infirmities,

doctrine, en

taught the most excefect example, and

it by the moft

the most precious and divine promises, and freely feals it with his own blood, which we are taught to regard not only as the blood of a martyr, but an atoning facrifice; who established a church, or fociety of faithful perfons, and took care that nothing fhould be wanting for: its prefervation in the world, and continual edification in faith, and holiness, and charity, and confolation! And canft thou deny any thing to fuch a friend, fuch a benefactor as Jefus hath been to thee? When he hath provided thee with all the means and afsistances thou needeft, in order to thy going on to perfection, among others, with the inftitution of the holy fupper, fhouldst thou not thankfully accept, and faithfully improve them? O my foul, refolve, and let nothing turn thee from thy purpose, that the ferving and imitating thy Saviour, and preparing thyfelf for that blessed immortality which he hath procured for, and revealed and promifed to thee, fhall be thy chief aim, thy conftant employment, during the reft of thy pilgrimage upon earthbout is in

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SECT. II.

BUT what is it, O my foul, that thy Saviour requires of thee! I hear him faying, Do this in remembrance of me.-But what is it that he would have us do? Is it to make ourselves of no reputation, and become poor, for his fake, as he did for ours; to renounce every thing that this life hath in it most valuable and pleasant; to afflict the body with painful and useless aufterities; and to retreat from all the affairs and conversation of the world, into barren deferts and frightful folitudes? No fuch thing; though, had he bid thee give him fome fuch fevere proofs of thy remembrance of him as thefe, thou couldst not in gratitude have refufed them: how much more, when he only enjoins thee, in a religious manner, to make use of bread and wine as facramental memorials of his body broken, and his blood fhed for us! How eafy the command! and how inexcufable those who, calling themselves the difciples of Chrift, will not, through fome fault of their own, be perfuaded to do as they are commanded, or do it negligently and indevoutly! Haft thou never heard and admired at the cruelties which the worshippers of false gods, not only volun

tarily, but with a fort of pride, have prac tifed upon themselves, in honour of dumb idols? Thy merciful Lord calls for no fuch teft of thy love to him. He makes this indeed a neceffary qualification for thy being his difciple, as it is in the nature of the thing, that thou keep his commandments; but either thou knoweft not what his commandments are, or must be obliged to own that they are not grievous. That I love my fellow difciples, and cultivate a benevolent difpofition towards all mankind; that I be humble, meek, merciful, temperate that I be not anxiously thoughtful about future time and events, lay not up for myself a treasure on earth, but in heaven, that my treasure being there, my heart may be there alfo; thefe, and fuch like, are the commands of the bleffed Jefus; who, as a means admirably adapted to my delightful progrefs in thefe and all other virtues of the Christian life, does further enjoin a devout attendance at his table, there to receive the pledges of his love, and grace to help in every time of need.

SECT. III.

MUST thou not acknowledge, O my foul, that thy Redeemer's yoke is easy,

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and his burden light, if thou reflect, that, instead of those numerous rites and cere. monies which the Mofaic law appointed, and which rendered that fervice fo burdenfome, that an Apoftle of Chrift fcruples not to call it a yoke which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear; the Christian church hath no other observances of a ritual nature, but those two fimple and eafy ones (eafy to be understood, and as eafy to be practifed) of baptifm and the Lord's fupper; and that of these two the latter is only intended to be repeated? fo little does our Divine Mafter delight in abridging his followers of any liberty they can reafonably defire; and fo much is he concerned that their duty fhould be their pleasure or a natural fource of it. The things recommended, and moft ftrongly infifted on, by his gofpel, are those weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and the love of God; things intrinfically good and amiable. And to the honour of this facrament of the fupper it may be observed, that though a pofitive inftitution, yet to those who receive it in a right manner, it is of unfpeakable use to promote the life of God in the foul, and the practice of all thofe virtues by which we refemble God in the conver

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