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Father, grant us thy wisdom and grace, and to thee be all praise and glory forever. Amen.

XVIII.

Following in the Regeneration.

If ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot;

Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

Who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren; see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.

ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father, we approach thee in the name of the glorified Redeemer, in whom

FOLLOWING IN THE REGENERATION. 61

thou dost manifest thyself to us in all the mild majesty of thy paternal character. May all our passions be hushed within us, all vain thoughts expelled and driven from us, that we may approach thee with solemnity and stillness of soul, and open our whole mind towards thee, the great and excellent Glory.

We bless thee that thou hast opened our eyes to see the light of another morning; that in those hours when we could take no thought of ourselves we slept securely in the arms of thy providence, and under the guardianship of thy blessed angels, and have now been gently awaked to the duties of another day. We would enter upon those duties with firm resolves and purposes. We would walk this day in the path of thy commandments, keeping Christ ever before us, as the Way, the Truth and the Life, who has redeemed us with his own precious blood. We would here resolve not to offend against thee in word, in thought, in feeling, or in action, but to manifest to all around us the spirit and temper of the Redeemer. O, help us to keep this resolve; for unless thou help us we shall fall. Help us to drive away the tempter when he comes, so that when the hours of the day are ended we may hear thy benediction, "Well done," and have the blessed peace that comes from the smile of thy countenance. Let a light from thy throne fall upon our pathway, and make all our duties plain before us. And when that light comes, give us strength to follow it with a fidelity which danger or death cannot

shake or disturb, so that our souls may be purified by our obedience to the truth.

We remember, O our God, how short and fleeting are the days of our probation; for our flesh is as grass, and the glory thereof as the flower of grass. We pray that we may be laying up those treasures that no moth can corrupt and no thieves plunder nor steal, but which live and abide forever. Every day may our understandings be more replenished with thy truth, and our hearts more completely imbued with thy love. Every day may we do something to conquer the evil that is in us, that we may drive out all selfish desires and appetites, and bring down into our souls the angel band of pure affection. We would follow Christ in the regeneration, so that we may rejoice to meet him in the kingdom of thy glory. And to him that is able to keep us from falling, and present us faultless before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.

XIX.

Remembrance of Mercies.

I will extol thee, my God, O King; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.

Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.

And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.

They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.

The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee.

THOU infinite and eternal Being, Giver of all good, present Helper in all trouble, we call on thy holy name with gladness this morning, and implore thy presence and blessing. We gratefully acknowledge thy goodness to us in the familiar bounties that return to us with the light of day. For the pleasant sunshine, for our daily bread, for our opportunities of usefulness, for our home affections, and our religious hopes, we give thee heart-felt thanks, and beseech thee to make us faithful to thy gifts and stewards of thy trust.

Father of our spirits, abide with us this passing day, and grant that we may give its fleeting hours to precious uses that shall not be fleeting. In heavenly wisdom may we redeem the time, and learn even now to live the life eternal.

Searcher of hearts, reveal to us our sins, and give us grace to put them away, by the power of thy Holy Spirit. Look with thy favor upon all the members of our household, and may each one of us be an earnest doer of thy will in our appointed post of duty. Visit with thy blessing all our kindred and friends. Graciously lift up all who are cast down; strengthen the weak; heal the sick; comfort the afflicted; reclaim the erring; confirm the wavering; edify yet more the faithful. Grant, O Lord of life, that we all may meet at last around thy throne in heaven, and that the love of thee, our God, may be the life of all souls. Hear us, through thine infinite grace in Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

XX.

Faith in the Redeemer.

Jesus cried, and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me :

And he that seeth me, seeth him that sent me :

I am come a light into the world, that whoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

And if any man shall hear my words, and not believe, 1 judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.

He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him : the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

For I have not spoken from myself; but the Father who

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