dare to stand up and say to the Lord Jesus Christ, ' Thou hast declared that thou wouldst " on no account cast out any who came to thee ; " but thou hast falsified thy word in reference to me, and suffered me to seek thy face in vain?' No: there never yet existed an occasion for such a reproach, nor ever shall, as long as the world shall stand. I say, then, that those who doubt the blessedness of true religion are in darkness even to this very hour, and " speak evil of the things which they understand not." And, if they pretend that they have endea- voured to taste whether God were good, and found him not to be so, I hesitate not to say, that the fault has not been in God, but in themselves, in that their taste has been vitiated, and their souls rendered incapable of spiritual discernment.]
To those who have " tasted that the Lord is gra- cious,"
[I would say. Be not satisfied with a taste. God invites you to "eat and drink abundantly V' till you are even " satis- fied with his goodness s." Such is your privilege, as David has declared: "How excellent is thy loving-kindness, O God! therefore shall the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings : they shall be abundantly satisfied wdth the fatness of thy house ; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures ^."
And be careful that you do not become " weary of the Lord." We read of some, who, having " tasted of the heavenly gift, and been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and having tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, yet so fell away, as never to be renewed unto repentance *." Beware, lest that ever become your state. Beware, lest ye so " crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." If men who have never tasted of his grace commit iniquity, they bring no particular disgrace upon religion : but if you, who profess godliness, offend, you cast a stumbling- block before the whole world ; who conclude, from what they see in you, that there is not a sufiSciency of love in Christ to make you happy, or of grace to make you holy. I pray you, bring not such dishonour upon him, or such guilt upon your own souls : but so " acquaint yourselves with him, that you may be at peace;" and so deHght yourselves in him, that " your souls may be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, whilst you are praising him with joyful lips ^. "]
f Cant. V. 1. s Jer, xxxi. 14.
h Ps. xxxvi. 7, 8. ' Heb. vi. 6.
k Ps. Ixiii. 5.