you to teach you to prize his prefence more: fo that, when he shall afford you his divine confolations, you may be the better prepared for the reception of them, and more on your guard against whatever may cause God to conceal from you the light of his countenance; for it is found in experience, that he kindly vifits those who continue thus feeking, thus defiring, hungering, thirfting, and looking for him. Set, then, no limits to the Spirit of the Lord, but quietly wait upon him.

Thirdly, Others may fay, "We have been told, that our conduct after facrament fhould confift in the exercise of real gratitude for the good we have enjoyed. That is indeed proper for those who have experienced fome good: but as for us, we have much more reason of complaining than of praifing. In what shall we be thankful?" Well, friends, is there no reason for the exercise of gratitude? Will you then despise the day of small things? Is not the fmallest degree of grace great grace, and thus deferving of your gratitude?

1. Is it not great grace, that you can testify before the Lord, that on your part you have fought to act fincerely and faithfully?-that you can fay, Lord, thou art our witnefs, that thou wert and now art our defire?

2. Is it not great grace, that you have fuch a fenfe of your unworthinefs and emptinefs in the fight of God, that, like the Canaanitish woman, you may lie at Jesus' feet, waiting for the crumbs of his grace? To be little in our own eyes,-to be humble and lowly of heart, especially before, at, and after receiving the facrament, is pleasing to God. We are then in a fuitable frame, when with the centurion we can fay, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldft come - Vol. II. G g

under my roof. Then it is that we may expect >> hear him fay, as Jefus did to Zaccheus. Zaccheus come down; for to day I must abide at thine houfe.

3. Is it not great grace, when your hearts can feel difpofed, on the offers of God in the covenant, to fay amen to them; to be enabled cordially to furrender yourselves to God, and to declare that you

will be the Lord's?

Although, then, you complain, that you have no reafon for the exercise of gratitude,-when you confider, these things, will you not find the contrary, even though God fhould beftow no more upon you than he already has graciously done: for the smallest degree of grace fhould raise in our hearts eternal fongs of praife.

Fourthly, Another fays, "I hear fome of the children of God fpeak with fo much fatisfaction and cordiality of the Lord's Supper. But facramental occafions are for me feafons of diftrefs, and therefore I am not profited by approaching. Whence does this proceed?"

1. This may be a TEMPTATION of the enemy, to keep you in a fituation in which you cannot be rightly exercifed: for he either presents to you the facrament in fuch an awful point of view, as if God were present in the fame, as he was prefent on Mount Sinai, and then your language is, "How fhall I, a worm of the duft, dare to draw nigh to a God who is fo holy?"-or, by raifing a variety of difficulties, he feeks to alarm you; urging, that you have no right to partake; that the bread is only for his children; that you are not furnished with the wedding garment; that Jefus, when he comes to fee the guefts, will fay to you, Friend, how cameft thou in hither? and

that, fhould you in fuch circumftances approach, you would eat and drink judgment to yourfelves.

But this temptation you must endeavour to remove. Are you enabled in your preparations to exercise a faith which only makes you cleave to the Lord? approach,-you have a warrant for it.

2. It may be, that the Lord himself, for wife and holy reasons, thus deals with you. Satan does it to perplex and harafs you; but the Lord does it to make you humble and little in your own eyes, to create in your hearts a holy fear and jealoufy of yourselves.

3. Besides, the fear of man, or some other cause, may excite a perturbation which you cannot eafily account for. By this means the mind is difcompofed and unfitted to engage in this folemn bufinels. But we muft feek on rational grounds to rife fuperior to these unreasonable fears, that the heart be not hindered and prevented from being properly exercised.

Fifthly, and laftly, Perhaps fome of the children. of God may say, "Alas! we are fo often, even after communion, hurried again into fin, that we lofe every advantage which we might have expected from that ordinance. What fhall we do in fuch a cafe ?"

First, I must answer, IN GENERAL, what I have often remarked, that the enemy is never more engaged in tempting us to fin, than before or after we have been at the table of the Lord. This he also does, when we have experienced any refreshings from the Lord, to the end that he may take away the fweets and comforts of the life of grace. Thus he has tempted many of the faints of the Moft High. When king Hezekiah had done much for God, had wrought a great reformation in Ifrael, and could say,

"Lord, thou haft dealt bountifully with me," he immediately fell into the fin of pride: for when the messenger of the king of Babylon came unto him, he fhewed them all his treafures, Ifai. xxxviii.—And thus Satan conducted himself towards the Lord Jesus himself, when he was baptized, and received the feal by a voice from heaven, that he was the Son of God, in whom the Father was well pleased. Then he endeavoured to tempt him to fin; but he was difappointed; for Jefus never finned, nor was ever guile found in his mouth. After Paul had been taken up into the third heaven, a messenger of Satan was fent to buffet him, left he should be exalted above measure.

But, in particular, I muft obferve, for your encouragement, that a difference is to be made between fin and fin.

1. There are fins which spring from the indifpofition of the body, which may overtake us after we have been at the table. For inftance: a person has arifen early in the morning; was exercised in prayer: he then engages in the public fervice of God; he goes in the afternoon to the house of God; the body is fluggish and inactive; he cannot pay that attention which he wishes: drow finefs overtakes him.This might afterwards produce diflrefs, and he fays, "How unbecoming in me is it to have fo little reverence and attention when the word is preached!" But this is not so great a fin as to render the ordinance altogether fruitless. No; fo long as it pleases God, that in this wilderness we should ftruggle with thefe fluggish bodies of clay, he will graciously pardon this defect. He knows our frames, and remembers that we are duft. But what we have faid muft not be abused to an indulgence in floth.

2. Examine your hearts before the Lord, and fee how they are exercised in respect to fin. If you fall into it, is it a pleasure, or is it a cause of diffatisfaction to you? are you indifferent about it? are you unaffected with it? do you knowingly and willingly commit it?-then is your cafe alarming. But can you, on the contrary, fay, The Lord knows how much I ftruggle against it,-what bitterness it creates,-how I am opposed to it,-how it deftroys my peace?"--all this evidences that you have declared fin to be your enemy; for a natural man fins, and comforts himself with the grace of God and the righteousness of Chrift, and goes on carelessly as before. O that I could imprint on your minds this diftinction between the fins of the world and those of the people of God! that thus the former might be brought to see themselves, and that the latter might be encouraged and comforted. For the grace of God, and the blood of Jefus, is indeed for finners,—yea, for great finners; but not for those who delight in finning.

3. Do you find, that you are thus affected in respect to fin? what will you then do? Will you continue in this ftate, deftitute of confidence in God, yield yourselves up to defpondency, and fay, "Now all the fruit of my attendance on the ordinance is gone?" No.-What course will you then take? The safest way is, to flee with speed to the throne of grace, before the breach between the Lord and your fouls becomes wider. There with fhame confefs your guilt; that you have indeed again fallen into fin, but it was against your wills, and that you would not wilfully break your covenant with God. Oh! we must arife and go to our Father, and fay, "We have finned, but receive us again in