more

for us.

Enable us, we pray thee, to sanctify this Sabbath, as that it may be fanctified to us, and be a means of our fanctification : That by resting today from our worldly employments, our hearts may be more and more taken off from present things, and prepared to leave them; and that by employing our time to-day in the worship of God, we may be led into a more experimental acquaintance with the work of Heaven, and be made meet for the blessed world.

We confess we are utterly unworthy of the hopour, and unable for the work of communion with thee; but we come to thee in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is worthy, and depend upon the affittance of thy blessed Spirit to work all for us, and fo to ordain

peace We keep this day holy to the bonour of thee, O God the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, in remenibrance of the work of creation, that work of wonder, in which thou “ madelt all

things out of nothing by the word of thy power,” and all very good; and they continue to this day according to thy ordinance; for all are thy fura

Thou art worthy to receive bleming, and “ honour, and glory, and power, for thou hast cre“ ated all things, and for thy pleasure they are " and were created. Othou who didit con mind “ the light to shine out of darkness,” who faidit on the fixt day of the first week, “ Let there be light, “ and there was ligit:" we pray thee fine this day in our hearts, and give us more and more the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jefus Chrift; and let us be shy work

66

life to us.

manship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works; a kind of first-fruits of thy creatures.

We likewise fanctify this day to the honour of our Lord Jefus Christ, the only begotten Son and our exalted Redeemer, in remembrance of his resurrection from the dead on the first day of the week, by which he was declared to be the Son of God with power. We bless thee, that having laid down his life to make atonement for fin, he role again for our justification, that he might bring in everlasting righteousness. We bless thee, that he is risen from the dead as the first fruits of them that llept, that he might be the resurrection and the

Now we pray, that while we are celebrating the memorial of his resurrection with joy and triumph, we may experience in our fouls the power of his resurrection, that we may rise with him from the death of sin to the life of righteourress; from the dust of this world, to a hcly, heavenly, fpiritual, divine life. O that we may be planted together in the likeness of Christ's resurrection, that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life.

We sanctify this day to the honour of thy holy Spirit, that blessed Spirit of grace, the Comforter, rejoicing at the remembrance of the descent of the Spirit upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost, the first day of the week likewise. We bless thee, that when Jesus was glorified, the holy Ghost was given to make up the want of his bodily presence, to carry on his undertaking, and to ripen things for his second coming; and that we have a promile that he shall abide with us for ever. pray, that the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus

And we

.

a

from the dead may dwell and rule in every one of us, to make us partakers of a new and divine nature. Come, o blessed Spirit of Grace, and breathe

upon these dry bones, these dead hearts of ours, that they may live, and be in us a spirit of faith, and love, and holiness, a fpirit of power, and of a found mind.

O Lord, we bless thee for thy holy word, which is a light to cur feet, and a lamp to our paths, and “ which was written for our learning, that we, “ through patience and comfort of the scriptures,

might have hope ;” that the scriptures are preserved

pure

and entire to us, and that we have them in a language that we understand. We beg that we may not receive the grace of God in vain.--We bless thee that our eyes fee the joyful light, and our ears hear the joyful sound of a Redeemer and a Saviour, and of redemption and falvation by him ; that life and immortality are brought to light by the gospel. Glory be to God in the higheit, that in and through Jesus Christ there is on earth peace and good will towards men.

We bless thee for the great gospel record, that “ God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is " in his Son.” Lord, we receive it as a faithful saying, and well worthy of all acceptatior. Olet him i made of God to us wisdom, righteousness, fanctification, and redemption : let us be effe&tually called into falowihip with him, and by faith be united to him, so that Christ may live in us, and we may grow up into him in all things, who is the head; that we may bring forth fruit in him, ard whatever we do in word or deed we may do all in his name. O let us have the spirit of Christ, that thereby it may appear that we are

his. And through him we pray that we may have eternal life, that we may none of us come short of it, but may all of us have the first fruits and earnelts of it abiding in us.

We bless thee for the new covenant made with us in Jesus Christ. Lord, we fly for refuge to it, we take hold of it as the hope fet before us. Thou haft declared concerning the Lord Jesus, that he is thy beloved Son in whom thou art well pleased; we humbly beg, Lord, be thou pleased with us in and through him.

O that our hearts may be filled this day with pleasing thoughts of Christ, and his love to us, that great love wherewith he loved us. O the ad. mirable dimensions of that love, the height, the depth, and length, and breadth of the love of Christ which pafleth knowledge. Let this love constrain us to love him, and live to him who died for us and rose again. O that it may pleasure and mighty satisfaction to us to think, that while we are here praying at the throne of grace, our blessed Saviour is fitting at the right hand of the throne of glory, interceding for us : We earnestly beg that through him we may find favour with thee our God; and may be taken into covenant and communion with thee.

We humbly pray thee, for his fake, to forgive all our fins, known and unknown, in thought, word, and deed :-Through him let us be acquitted from all guilt. O let there be no cloud of guilt to interpose between us and our God this day, and to intercept our comfortable communion with thee, And let our lasts be mortified and subdued, that our own corruptions may not be as a

be a

clog to us, to hinder the ascent of our souls heavenwards. We

pray thee aslift us in all the religious fervices of this thine own holy day : Go along with us, we humbly beseech thee, to the folemn assembly; for if thy presence go not up with us, wherefore should we go up ? Give us to draw nigh to thee with a true heart, with a free heart, with fixed heart, and in full assurance of faith. Meet us with a bleffing : Grace thine own ordinances with thy presence, that special presence which thou hait promised where two or three are gathered together in thy name. Help us agair it our manifold infirmities, and the fins that do moft easily befct us in our attendance upon thee. Let thy word come with life and power to our souls, and be as good feed fown in good foil, taking root, and bringing forth fruit to thy praise : and let our prayers and praises be spiritual facrifices, acceptable in thy sight through Jesus Christ.

Let thy presence be in all the assemblies of Christians this day. In the chariot of the everlasting gospel let the great Redeemer ride forth triumphantly, conquering and to corect, and let every thought be brought into obedience to him. Let many be brought to believe the report of the gospel, and to many let the arm of the Lord be revealed. Ler finners be converted urto thee, and thy saints edified and built up in faith, holiness, and comfort unto salvation.

All which, with every other needful mercy, we humbly ask, in the name, and through the niediation of thy dear Son, in whose words we further cail