A26957:191
Monthly preparations for the Holy Communion by R.B
Monthly preparations for the Holy Communion by R.B. ; to which is added suitable meditations before, in, and after receiving ; with divine hymns in common tunes, fitted for public congregations or private families.Monthly preparations for the Holy Communion by R.B. ; to which is added suitable meditations before, in, and after receiving ; with divine hymns in common tunes, fitted for publick congregations or private families.
London: printed for Tho. Parkhurst, 1696
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
The Wine.
Christ. Come my Dearest, I have drunk, and thou shalt pledge me: I have broached my side, and drew it on purpose for thee. This is a Wine of mine own making, when I trod the Winepress of my Fathers wrath. It is my blood; but take and drink it; it was the cause of my wounding, but to thy soul it shall prove healing. I died and bled, it was but to make this Banquet for thee. I have brought thee into my Wine-cellar, and my Banner over thee shall be love. Fear not, take and drink, thou hast an ulcer in thy heart, and this shall cure it; spots and stains of guilt on thy soul, and this shall purge them away; thy spirits ⟨p. 125⟩are faint, this shall revive thee, thou art afraid to see thy Fathers face, this shall make thee to draw near the Throne of Grace with boldness. Drink, I charge thee; drink on thy love and loyalty to me. I command thee as thou wilt have thy heart to mend, thy wounds to cure, thy spirits to revive, thy fears to scatter, thy soul to love and obey me, take, O take this cup into thy hand, taste it, and praise my love.
Soul. Lord! I have taken, I have drunk as thou hast bid me, I neither could, or dare deny thee. Can I refuse thy blood when I have accepted thy self? Or can I accept my pardon at thy hands, and refuse the Seal thereof? I know I am vile, I am vile, but thou hast pardoned me. Lord, I have abused thy love, a thousand times refused thy offered self, and withstood the tenders of thy Grace; but thou hast covered all my sins, thou hast freely justified me by thy Grace, and made a full atonement for me by thy blood; this is that thou freely biddest me take, and I have freely drunk it. Never was Wine so full as this is. Never was Bowl so full