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as my happiness in comparison of thy favour; and to please and obey thee, shall be the chief ambition and care, and the governing principle of all my future life.

All my concerns, both of body and soul, I most gratefully resign into thy wise and good hands; rejoicing that thou wilt condescend to manage and direct them for me. I now promise, through thy help, to be always contented, yea, will endeavour to be always thankful, however thou art pleased to deal either with me or with mine; being assured, that thou knowest what is good for me infinitely better than I can judge for myself. Behold O Lord I am thine! thine by the most sacred and inviolable ties; made by thy power; maintained by thy bounty: guarded by thy Providence; restored by thy favour when going down into the pit; and by the blood of thy dear Son redeemed from the power of eternal darkness and death.-Deal therefore with thy servant as seemeth good in thy sight. Whatever substance, knowledge, influence, time, or any other talent, I now do, or ever shall possess, I most heartily devote it to thine honour and service. Thy will shall be the rule, and thy glory the end of all my future actions; and some part of every day shall be employed in solemnly invoking and praising thy glorious name. Chuse, O Lord God most wise and most merciful, my portion and my lot for me guide me by thy counsel through all the mazes of the present world, and at last receive me to thy kingdom and glory in the other.

To thee, likewise, holy Jesus, my most gracious Redeemer, the Son of God, and Saviour of the world, I most unfeignedly devote my self, and all that I have. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, and wisdom, and riches, and strength. I

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was lost, but thou savedst me: a prisoner of death, but thou diedst, that I might live. I am thine, for thou hast loved me, and washed me from my sins and redeemed me by thy blood: I now therefore, from my soul, absolutely renounce whatever is inconsistent with thy property and claim in me: I sincerely abjure the world and the flesh, as far as they in the least oppose the authority of Christ; whom alone I now avouch as my proprietor and king. I here bow myself before thee, in token of the deepest and sincerest subjection of my body, soul, and spirit to thy government and care. I bind myself as by a solemn oath of allegiance; swearing to be faithful to my Divine master even unto death: that his enemies shall be my enemies; his friends, mine; and that my whole life shall be conducted according to the pattern and laws of his gospel.

I believe in thee, blessed Jesus, as the Christ of God; as the only Saviour of the world; as the light, the resurrection, and the life of man. [ most humbly resign my understanding, my will, and every passion and power of my nature to be sanctified, controuled, and directed by thee.-Take a distressed soul into the arms of thy love, who flies to thee alone for salvation and help : write my name in the book of life: support me under all the troubles; strengthen me for all the conflicts; carry me safe through all the difficulties and dangers of my present state; and at last present me faultless before the presence of God with exceeding triumph and joy.

And forasmuch as by my own strength I am utterly unable to keep the covenant I have now made, and to perform what I have promised, I here also most humbly dedicate inyself to the Holy and ever-blessed Spirit; my body I most

thankfully devote to be its temple; and every power of my soul I resign to its influence: may it descend and ever dwell in me; and so entirely possess me, that every appetite and passion, every thought and imagination of my heart may be made perfectly conformable to the image and will of God; and I may daily grow up into a meetness. for the mansions of the blessed above.

And now blessed be God who has inclined my heart to enter into this covenant; and blessed be his name, who, I trust, will enable me faithfully to keep it. In an humble dependence upon the promised aids of his Spirit, through Christ my allpowerful and compassionate Redeemer, I will now subscribe my name to it, and call heaven to witness to my sincerity therein.

Oh that the covenant I now ratify on earth, may be ratified in heaven! Affix, blessed Saviour, who art the mediator of the new covenant, thy signet thereto; and now seal by thy Spirit both my body and soul to that everlasting redemption for which according to thy promise we believingly wait. Amen and Amen.

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Passages of scripture proper to be read on this occasion are the xxiii. xxvii. xxx. xxxii. lxvi. ciii. and cxvi. Psalms. And the xxxviii. of Isaiah.

THE

GROUNDS OF FAITH

IN

JESUS CHRIST

BRIEFLY STATED ;

AND

SHEWN TO BE A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR PEACE AND JOY UNSPEAKABLE:

WITH

AN EARNEST RECOMMENDATION OF CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY, AND THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS:

ADDRESSED TO

A CANDID SOCIETY OF CHRISTIANS AT THE CLOSE OF THEIR PASTOR'S MINISTRATIONS AMONGST THEM.

[FIRST PRINTED 1784.]

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