The Communicant's Companion (continued)
notwithstanding all thy former follies, thou art welcome to her house, welcome to her table, freely welcome to "eat of her bread, and to drink of the wine which she hath mingled." "Now at least, now at last, in this thy day, know the things that belong to thy peace;" be wise for thyself, be wise for thine own soul, and cheat not thyself into thine own ruin.
Poor sinner! I pity thee, I would gladly help thee; the Lord pity thee and help thee! He will, if thou wilt pity thyself, and help thyself. Wilt thou be persuaded by one that wishes thee well, to exchange the service of sin, which is perfect slavery, for the service of God, which is perfect liberty? to exchange the base and sordid pleasures of a sensual life, which level thee with the beasts, for the pure and refined pleasures of a spiritual and divine life, which will raise thee to a communion with the holy angels? I am confident thou wilt quickly find it a blessed change. "Awake, shake thyself from the dust, loose thyself from the bands of thy neck." Give up thyself in sincerity to Jesus Christ, and then come and feast with him: thou shalt then have in this ordinance the pledges of his favor, assurances of thy reconciliation to him, and acceptance with him, and all shall be well, for it shall end everlastingly well.
2. I must next apply myself to those, who, having a competent knowledge in the things of God, and making a justifiable profession of Christ's holy religion, cannot be denied admission to this ordinance, and yet deny themselves the benefit and comfort of it. Such are hereby exhorted, without further delay, solemnly to give up their names to the Lord Jesus, in and by this sacrament. Hear Hezekiah's summons to the passover: "Yield yourselves unto the Lord, give the hand unto the Lord;"—so the Hebrew phrase is: join yourselves to him in the bond of the covenant, and then exchange the ratifications; enter into the sanctuary. First give your own selves unto the Lord, and then confirm the surrender by the solemnity of this ordinance.
Let me direct this exhortation to young people that were in their infancy baptized into the Christian faith, and have been well educated in the knowledge of God and of his holy ways, and are now grown up to years of discretion, are capable of understanding what they do, of discerning between their right hand and their left in spiritual things, and of choosing and refusing for themselves accordingly; and that have had some good impressions made upon their souls by divine things, and some good inclinations towards God, and Christ, and heaven: such are invited to the table of the Lord, and called upon to come, for all things are now ready, and it is not good to delay.
You that are young, will you now be prevailed with to be serious, and resolved for God? You now begin to act with reason, and to put away childish things; you are come to be capable of considering, and you are thinking how you must live in this world. O that I could prevail with you to think first how you may live for another world! I am not persuading you to come rashly and carelessly to the Lord's table, as when you were little children you went to church for fashion's sake, and because your parents took you with them; but I am persuading you now, in the days of your youth, from a deep conviction of your duty and interest, and a serious concern about your souls and eternity, intelligently, deliberately, and with a fixed resolution, to join yourselves unto the Lord in an everlasting covenant, and then to come and seal that covenant at his table. You are now come to the turning time of life, to those years when ordinary people fix for their whole lives; I beg of you for Christ's sake, and for your own precious