Now, observing, as I do, your great anxiety to do all the good to your fellow-creatures, that you have it in your power to perform; and believing that you thus act from no worldly or ostentatious motives, but in obedience to the _will of God_, the only true and solid principle of action in the breast of a sincere Christian; and observing also, that you attend the public services of religion, at least one day in a week; I am convinced that you cannot live in the _habits_ of vice, or in the _unrestrained indulgence_ of any wilful sin. If I am right, and you have only been subject to _occasional_ lapses from a virtuous course of life, the effect of a _sudden surprise_, or _violent temptation_, that is the very reason why you should come to the Lord’s table; because if you earnestly desire to conquer that vice, whatever it be, which most easily besets you, and come with an honest heart, and sincere purposes of amendment; it is our comfort, in the midst of our imperfections, that our God expects no more from us, than he will enable us to perform; and that even as a father pitieth his own children, so will the Lord be merciful unto them that fear him; _for he knoweth whereof we are made_, _he remembereth that we are but dust_. {13a} But while he is thus merciful and gracious, he does expect _this_; that we be sincere in what we profess, and _that we go to him for help by those ways and ordinances_, which he has mercifully vouchsafed to afford us, as our comfort in this life, and our guide to everlasting happiness. Still, I hear you persist in expressing your fears, lest, after having received this blessed food, you should _relapse_ into sin. Probably you may; and so have the best of men that have lived before you. But I am convinced of this (supposing you not to be an _habitual_ sinner), that the _oftener_ you attend this holy Sacrament, purposing to amend your life, and to walk from thenceforth in God’s holy ways, though you should still _occasionally_ fall, the less and less frequent will those relapses be, till they _altogether_ cease; {13b} and be assured, that he who, with pious diffidence, _forces_ himself, as it were, to approach that table in obedience to God’s will, and because he finds that, _without it_, he is unable to cleanse his way, is better prepared than he is aware of. _Come unto me all ye that travail_, _and are heavy laden_ (_with the burden of your sins_), _and I will give you rest_, {14} is Christ’s gracious invitation and promise to sinners. And if you desire to be relieved from such occasional relapses, you ought, undoubtedly, to obey this merciful call; for the denunciations against the unworthy reception of this Sacrament, apply to those, who, at the moment of receiving, not only have not forsaken their sins, but are _continuing_ in the _wilful and habitual_ commission of _known_ sins.