I  will  not  say,  that  such  c^oubts  and  fears  do  not
always  result  from  the  wickedness  of  the  human
heart ;  from  a  neglect  of  those  means  which  God
has  put  within  the  reach  of  all,  for  the  confirmation
of  their  faith  and  the  establishment  of  an  unwa-
vering hope.  They  who  seldom  look  into  the
Oracles  of  Truth,  and  who  are  seldom  found  in  the
closet  of  prayer,  must  expect  to  become  the  prey
of  the  tempter,   and   to  have   their   breasts   often


DISCOURSE    IV.  49

harassed  with  doubt,  or^  sometimes  tortured  with
despair.  There  is  certainly  great  guilt  attached  to
such  a  state.  It  calls  for  the  sighs  and  tears  of  pen-
itence ;  for  the  fervent  supplication,  at  the  Throne
of  Grace,  of  a  broken  and  contrite  heart  ;  for  new
and  vigorous  attempts  after  an  unclouded  assurance
of  being  truly  born  of  God  ;  but,  if  accompanied
With  this  penitence  and  prayer  and  resolution,  it
does  not  exclude  from  the  table  of  the  Lord.  Oth-
erwise, how  many  weak  souls  must  be  deprived  of
their  spiritual  nourishment  ;  nay,  how  many  emi-
nent saints,  in  their  seasons  of  darkness,  must  be
cut  off  from  the  enjoyment  of  an  ordinance  which
is  often  made  the  means,  under  God,  of  dispelling
the  gloom  of  spiritual  despondency,  and  of  shedding
upon  the  Christian's  path  a  light,  which,  beaming
upon  him  from  Heaven,  shews  him,  that  thither  his
footsteps,  though  of  late  so  faint  and  weary,  are  still
tending  !

Secondly,  Imperfect  views  of  the  doctrines  of
religion  are  not  inconsistent  with  a  worthy  participa-
tion of  the  Lord's  Supper.  At  the  commencement
of  the  third  chapter  of  this  very  Epistle  from  which
our  text  is  taken,  Saint  Paul,  addressing  the  Corin-
thians, says  ;  ^*  And  I,  brethren,  could  not  speak
unto  you  as  unto  spiritual,  but  as  unto  carnal,  even
as  unto  babes  in  Christ.  I  have  fed  you  with  milk,
and  not  with  meat ;  for  hitherto  ye  were  not  able  to
bear  it,  neither  yet  now  are  ye  able."  The  Corin-
thian converts,  then,  had  not  advanced  beyond  the
first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God  :  yet,  although


46  DISCOURSE    IV.
