rejoice and enjoy God in both.--Not but that doubting of their state fometimes arifes from other caufes, befides want of watchfulness; it may arise from melancholy, and fome other peculiar difadvantages. But however, it is not owing to God's revelations nor inftitutions; which, whatsoever we may fuppofe them to be, will not prevent the perplexities of fuch persons.

ANSW. III. It appears to me reasonable to fuppose, that the doctrine 1 maintain, if univerfally embraced by God's people, however it might be an accidental occafion of perplexity in many inftances, through their own infirmity and fin; yet, on the whole, would be a happy occafion of much more comfort to the faints than trouble, as it would have a tendency, on every return of the Lord's fupper, to put them on the stricteft examination and trial of the ftate of their fouls, agreeable to that rule of the Apostle, 1 Cor. xi. 28. The neglect of which great duty of frequent and thorough felf-examination, feems to be one main cause of the darkness and perplexity of the faints, and the reason why they have fo little comfort in ordinances, and fo little comfort in general.— Mr. Stoddard often taught his people, that affurance is attainable, and that thofe who are true faints might know it, if they would; i. e. if they would use proper means and endeavours in order to it.-And if so, then certainly it is not juft, to charge thofe perplexities on God's inflitutions, which arife through mens negligence; nor would it be just on the fuppofition of God's inftitu tions being fuch as I fuppofe them to be.

OBJECTION XI.

You may as well fay, that unfanctified perfons may not attend any duty of divine worship whatsoever, as that they may not attend the Lord's fupper; for all duties of worship are holy, and require holiness, in order to an acceptable performance of them, as well as that.

ANSW. If this argument has any foundation at all, it has its foundation in the supposed truth of the following propofitions, viz. Whofoever is qualified for admission to one duty of divine worship, is qualified for admiffion to all; and he that is unqualified for one, and may be forbidden one, is unqualified for all, and ought to be allowed to attend none. But certainly thefe propofitions are not true. There are many who are qualified for fome duties of worship, and may be allowed, and are by no means to be forbidden to attend them, who yet are not qualified for some others, nor by any means to be admitted to them. As every body grants, the unbaptized, the excommunicated, heretics, fcandalous livers, &c. may be admitted to hear the word preached; nevertheless they are not to be allowed to come to the Lord's fupper. Even excommunicated perfons remain ftill under the law of the Sabbath, and are not to be forbidden to observe the Lord's day. Ignorant perfons, fuch as have not knowledge fufficient for an approach to the Lord's table, yet are not excufed from the duty of prayer: They may pray to God to inftruct them, and affift them in obtaining knowledge. They who have been educated in Arianism and Socinianism, and are not yet brought off from these fundamental errors, and fo are by no means to be admitted to the Lord's fupper, yet may pray to God to affift them in their ftudies, and guide them into the truth, and for all other mercies which they need. Socrates, that great Gentile philofopher, who worthipped the true God, as he was led by the light of nature, might pray to God,

and he attended his duty when he did fo; although he knew not the revelation which God had made of him self in his word. That great philofopher that was contemporary with the Apostle Paul, I mean Seneca, who held one Supreme Being, and had in many refpects right notions of the divine perfections and providence, though he did not embrace the gofpel, which at that day was preached in the world; yet might pray to that Supreme Being whom he acknowledged. And if his brother Gallio at Corinth, when Paul preached there, had prayed to this Supreme Being to guide him into the truth,. that he might know whether the doctrine Paul preached was true, he therein would have acted very becoming a reasonable creature, and any one would have acted unreasonably in forbidding him; but yet furely neither of these men was qualified for the Chriftian facraments. So that it is apparent, there is and ought to be a diftincə tion made between duties of worship, with respect to qualifications for them; and that which is a fufficient qualification for admiffion to one duty, is not fo for alli And therefore the pofition is not true, which is the foundation whereon the whole weight of this argument refts. To fay, that although it be true there ought to be a diftinction made, in admiffion to duties of worship, with regard to fome qualifications, yet fanctifying grace is not one of those qualifications that make the difference; would be but a giving up the argument, and a perfect begging the question.

It is faid, there can be no reafon affigned, why un fanctified perfons may attend other duties of worship, and not the Lord's fupper. But I humbly conceive this must be an inadvertence. For there is a reafon very, obvious from that neceffary and very notable diftinction among duties of worship, which follows:

1. There are some duties of worship, that imply a profeffion of God's covenant; whofe very nature and de fign is an exhibition of thofe vital active principles and inward exercises, wherein confifts the condition of the covenant of grace, or that union of foul to God, which is

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the union between Chrift and his spouse, entered into by an inward hearty confenting to that covenant, Such are the Chriftian facraments, whofe very defign is to make and confirm a profeffion of compliance with that covenant, and whose very nature is to exhibit or express the uniting acts of the foul: Thofe facramental duties therefore cannot, by any whofe hearts do not really confent to that covenant, and whofe fouls do not truly clofe with Chrift, be attended, without either their being felf-deceived, or elfe wilfully making a falfe profeffion, and lying in a very aggravated manner.

2. There are other duties, which are not in their own nature an exhibition of a covenant-union with God, or of any compliance with the condition of the covenant of grace; but are the expreffion of general virtues, or vir tues in their largest extent, including both special and common. Thus prayer, or afking mercy of God, is in its own nature no profeffion, of a compliance with the covenant of grace: It is an expreffion of fome belief of the being of a God, an expreffion of fome sense of our wants, fome fenfe of our need of help, and fome fense of a need of God's help, fome fenfe of our dependance, &c. but not only fuch a sense of these things' as is fpiritual and faving. Indeed there are fome prayers proper to be made by faints, and many things proper to be expressed by them in prayer, which imply the profeffion of a fpiritual union of heart to God through Christ; but fuch as no Heathen, no heretic, nor natural man whatever, can or ought to make. Prayer in general, and asking mercy and help from God, is no more a profeffion of confent to the covenant of grace, than reading the Scriptures, or meditation, or performing any duty of morality and natural religion. A Mahometan may as well afk mercy, as hear inftruction: And any natural man may as well exprefs his defires to God, as hear when God declares his will to him. It is true, when an unconverted man prays, the manner of his doing it is finful But when a natural man, knowing himself to be fo, comes to the Lord's fupper, the very matter of what

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he does, in refpect of the profeffion he there makes, and his pretenfion to lay hold of God's covenant, is a lie, and a lie told in the moft folemn manner.

In a word, the venerable Mr. Stoddard himself, in his Doctrine of Inftituted Churches, has taught us to distinguish between inftituted and natural acts of religion: The word and prayer he places under the head of moral duty, and confiders as common to all; but the facraments, according to what he says there, being inftituted, are of Special adminiftration, and must be limited agreeable to the inftitution.

THE

OBJECTION XII.

HE Lord's fupper has a proper tendency to promote mens converfion, being an affecting reprefentation of the greatest and most important things of God's word: It has a proper tendency to awaken and humble finners; here being a difcovery of the terrible anger of God for fin, by the infliction of the curfe upon Chrift, when fin was imputed to him; and the reprefentation here made. of the dying love of Chrift has a tendency to draw the hearts of finners from fin to God, &c.

ANSW. Unlefs it be an evident truth, that what the Lord's fupper may have tendency to promote, the fame it was appointed to promote, nothing follows from this argument. If the argument affords any confequence, the confequence is built on the tendency of the Lord's fupper. And if the confequence be good and strong on this foundation, as drawn from fuch premifes, then whereever the premises hold, the confequence holds; otherwise it must appear, that the premises and confequence are not connected. And now let us fee how it is in fact. Do not feandalous perfons need to have thefe very effects wrought in their hearts, which have been mentioned ? Yes, furely; they need them in a special manner: They