Directions fo the Worthy Receiving the Blessed Sacrament, Thanksgiving
A Thanksgiving to be said after the Communion.
BLess the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is within me, bless his Holy Name: Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and forget not all his Benefits. Above all Things, O my Soul, forget not for ever to celebrate the Favour which God hath this day done to me.
I was before a Den of Thieves, a Haunt of Evil Spirits, a Sink of Unclean Lusts; and now I am become the Host of the Deity, the Palace of the Living God, the Spouse of the onelyonly begotten Son of the Almighty, and the Temple of the Holy Ghost. Salvation is this day come into my House, and I may assured believe that I am a true Son of Abraham.
All the Persons of the most Holy and Glorious Trinity, assure me of Salvation. I cannot doubt of the Mercy of the Father, for he hath not spared his only Son, but hath delivered him to the shameful Death of the Cross, to redeem me from my sins; and now he gives him to me for Food and Nourishment unto Eternal Life. The Son binds me to him, by the straitest and most cordial Bonds of Love that can be found amongst Men. He makes me Bone of his Bone, Flesh of his Flesh, and one and the same Spirit with him: and by that means renders me partaker of his Merit, and all his Benefits. And the Holy Ghost makes me glad and comforts me, witnessing to my Spirit that I am the Child of God, and Heir of God, and Co-heir with Jesus Christ. He hath sealed me unto the day of a glorious Redemption.
King Belshazzar, during his Feast, saw a Hand that wrote his Condemnation. But during the Feast of my Saviour, I have felt the Finger of God writing on my Heart my Eternal Absolution, assuring me that God will not enter into Judgement with me, and that he reserves for me in the Heavens, an Inheritance uncorruptible and undefiled, which fadeth not away.
I will not be any more affraid of my past sins; for the Cup of Blessing which now I have been partaker of is the Communion of the Blood of Jesus Christ, which was shed for the Remission of my sins. I will not be affraid of the Wrath of God, for now I have received the Pledge of my Peace and Reconciliation with God, by the Blood of the Cross. Being justified by Faith, I have Peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and shall rejoyce in the Hope of the Glory of God. I am not now affraid of Death, for seeing I have eaten of the Fruit of the Tree of Life, I shall never Die. Christ Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life: he is the Bread of Life, of which whosoever …ateth Liveth for ever. He that believeth in him, though he be dead, yet he shall live. I shall not fear the Dissolution of this Tabernacle; for though my Body be turned into Dust and Rottenness, yet God will raise it again at the last day. I have now received the Seed of Immortality, and the sure earnest that Christ Jesus will one day transform this vile Body, …nd render it conform to his glorious Body. After that the Worms have destroyed this, I shall see God in my Flesh, and mine Eyes shall behold him and not another.
O what Joy and Consolation do I now feel in my Soul? My Heart is glad, and my Glory rejoyceth; my Flesh also shall rest in Hope. I will sing with the Angelical Spirits, Glory be to God on High, Good-will upon Earth, and Peace towards M…n.
Depart from me all Sadness, for I possess the Joy and Consolation of Israel. In my Jesus I find Sweetness and inexpressible Delights. My Heart from henceforward shall be a continual Feast, and the Peace of God that passeth all Understanding, shall keep my Body and Soul.
What can thy poor Servant say more unto thee; for I am too mean, in respect of all thy Goodness and Truth, which thou hast shewed towards me. Thou, Lord, givest me above what I could ask or think. Thou givest me a foretaste of thy Heavenly Canaan, and the First-Fruits of thy glorious Communion. O when shall I be fully satisfied with the Bread of thy Kingdom, and the Fat of thy House? When wilt thou plunge me in that River of thy Pleasures?
My Soul thirsteth for God, for the Living God, when shall I come and appear before God? It is enough, O Lord, return now into thy rest, O my Soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. Let me now depart in Peace, according to thy word, for mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation.
But whil'st I wait for the Enjoyment of that Eternal Peace, what shall I render unto the Lord for all his Benefits towards me? I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. I will pay my Vows to the Lord in the midd'st of all his People, in the Courts of the Lords House, in the midd'st of thee, O Jerusalem.
O great God, as thou hast given me thy Blessings, and a Hand to receive them, give me Grace likewise to acknowledge them by everlasting Thanksgiving. Lord Jesus, who …ast given me Furniture to adorn the House which thou hast daigned to honour with thy Presence, give me likewise Incense to burn before thee. Let my Prayer come up before thee as Incense, and the lifting up of my Hands as the Evening Sacrifice.
And in the same manner as thy Presence heretofore appeared graciously in the Temple of Solomon, by the Fire which came down from Heaven, and consumed the Sacrifice; send down into my Heart, from Heaven, the Fire of thy Love, which may render my Prayers fervent; and elevate to thee the flame of my Praises.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, having the Dead Body of our Saviour, put it in a clean Linnen Cloth, with a Composition of Myrrhe and Alloes. And grant, good Lord, that I having received my Saviour, who was dead, and raised again into Glory, may lodge him in a pure Conscience, and in the sincerity of a mild and peaceable Spirit, which in the sight of God is of greater value than all Spices and Perfumes.
They who have a great Prince lodge in their House have their Eye still stedfastly fixed upon him. They are always imployed either in Serving or Entertaining of him.
Since then I have the honour to lodge in me the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, grant that all my Affections may fall down and kneel in his Presence.
Let there be nothing in me that may displease so excellent a Guest. Grant that I may banish from his sight the Filthiness of my Vices, and the Pollution of my unclean Lusts, that my greatest fear may be not to displease him; and greatest care how to give him content: and that my Soul may be as a Sanctuary and sacred Closet, where I may entertain him in holy Prayers and devote Meditations.
O great God, who hast this day sealed unto me Grace and Redemption; make me to feel thy Spirit of Sanctification. As Christ Crucified hath been represented to my Eyes, grant that I may Crucifie the Old Man, and destroy the body of sin. And as Christ Jesus died once unto sin, that he might live eternally to God; grant also that I may die unto sin, that through Christ Jesus I may be Eternally to God. That Sin may no longer reign in my Mortal Body, that I should obey it in the Lusts thereof; and that I may no longer yield my Members as Instruments of Righteousness to Sin; but that I may yield them to God as one alive from the dead. That I may offer unto the Body as a Living Sacrifice, Holy and Acceptable to God, which is my reasonable Service; to the end I may say with thy Apostle, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; And the Life which I now live in the Flesh, I live by the Faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
O Lord, since thou hast admitted me unto thy Table, and made me to lean on thy Bosom like thy well-beloved Disciple. Since thou hast satisfied me with such precious Dainties, and hast linked me unto thee by such powerful Chains of Love, grant that I may heartily renounce the Devil and all the sinful Pomps of the Worfd, that Pride, Avarice, and unclean Concupisence may have no more power over me.
Since thou hast Embraced me, Cloathed with thy Righteousness, and fed with the Bread of Angels, Grant that I may not again return to the Food of Swine, the Filth of my Vices; but that my whole Life may be a Warfare against my Lusts, a Study and Exercise of Piety, and a Race towards thee, in the ways of good works which thou hast appointed for us to walk in.
Jonathan's Eyes were enlightened by tasting of a Honey-Comb that dropt upon the Ground, and shall not I be enlightened, O Lord, who have in my Heart tasted the Honey that drops from the Rock of Ages? I was before Darkness, but henceforward I shall be Light in the Lord.
The Prophet Elias having drank a Cruise of Water, and ate a Cake baked on the Coals, which was brought him from Heaven by an Angel, found himself so much refreshed, that in the strength of that Meal he Travelled Forty Days and Forty Nights, until he came to the Mountain of the Lord in Horeb; so grant, good Lord, that I, who being touched by thy Spirit, have now Drank of the Water of Life, and Ate of the Heavenly Bread, which bearing the Wrath of God upon the Altar of the Cross, was made unto us Food unto Eternal Life; by the strength of that Holy Bread may go on from Faith to Faith, and from Grace to Grace, until I come and prostrate my self before thee in Mount Sion; where I shall stand no more in need of S…craments; for the Curtain being drawn, and the Veil rent, I shall, without Shadow or Figure, behold thee Face to Face: Shall follow my Jesus whi…hersoever he goeth, and shall hunger and thirst no more; for the Lamb that is on the Throne shall feed me, and lead me to the Fountain of Living Waters,: And God himself shall be all in all unto me. Amen.