to a realization of the height and extent of our privileges and calling, and who never for one moment, in the struggle and the conflict with his sinful passions, lost sight of the sure hope of his calling and its certain future of glory.

And John, after speaking of his fellowship with the Father, says, "If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves;" and throughout the writings of each apostle there is recognised the hardness of the battle with the sinful infection of our nature, which remains yea in them that are regenerate.

But should this sense of your unworthiness keep you from the Supper of the Lord?

Does the hungry man refuse the banquet because he is so hungry?

Does the poor man refuse riches because of his poverty?

Does the sick man refuse the healing draught because of his illness nigh unto death?

Hunger, poverty, disease-these are the very grounds upon which his claims for assistance are urged. He pleads them as those which entitle him to assistance, and he obtains relief.

Hungry soul, thy hunger should bring thee to the Table of the Lord to feed on the Body and Blood of Christ. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

Poverty-stricken soul, come without money and without price. Thou canst bring nothing of thine

own,-no goodness, not even thy tears, not even thy best works; but as thou hast nothing to pay, He frankly forgives thee all. He satisfieth the poor with bread. He giveth thee the title to His riches in glory.

Sin-sick soul, here bring thy wounds and thy disease to the Good Physician. Sayest thou I am lost? Then for thee is the table spread, for He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Come just as thou art. The Body and Blood of Christ is to preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Thy need is the very reason why thou shouldest draw nigh.

"Let not conscience make thee linger
Nor of fitness fondly dream;

All the fitness He requireth

Is to feel thy need of Him."

Those only are unfit to come to the Lord's Table who would bring somewhat of their own as that which should entitle them to admission, or who, careless and unthinking, draw nigh as the result of habit, or for the sake of respectability or for an outward show, and whose hearts are untouched by the sense of their sins and their need of a Saviour.

But to the chief of sinners the invitation is given. The hungry are filled with good things when the rich are sent empty away. Come, for all things are ready!" cries the Master of the Feast.

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And if

thou, O weary soul, wouldest rest gladly on Him, and bring thy sins to Him, and feed on His Body and Blood as thy sole food, thou mayest still hear him say, "Him that cometh I will in no wise cast out." He will wash thee in His blood, and He will put the fair wedding-garment upon thee of His righteousness, and He will thus give thee the title to the Father's favour, and there shall be sent thee strength for the way and armour for the conflict, and drawing nigh faint and weary, thou shalt go forth strengthened and refreshed to live indeed the new life of faith in the Son of God unto Him which died for thee and rose again.

A second excuse often brought forward by those who neglect attendance at the Lord's Table is"I am afraid I do not love Christ." Much that has been said before applies to those who urge this excuse. And when we come to consider it more closely, it is much as if we should say, "I cannot come to the fire, for I am so cold." The very sense of our hearts' coldness should bring us to the place where we behold the flame of His love burning the brightest. Deeply should we indeed bemoan our deadness of spirit towards Him who so loved us. But the very longing of our souls for more love proclaims the existence in a measure of that love. "Love to God," it has been said, "is a heavenly aspiration that is ever kept in check by the drag and the restraint of an

earthly nature."

But "where there is a complaint of hardness, there is in fact a beginning of tenderness. Where there is an honest wish for affection, there is, in fact, the embryo affection itself, struggling for a growth and an establishment in the bosom. Where there is a feeling of sad insensibility, the sensibility hath begun."* Ye who sor

row because of your little love to Christ, behold Him at His Table exhibited before you, bleeding, dying for your sins. Hear all His promises; hear His pleadings; tell Him of your want of love, that you have come there because your heart is so cold;

say-

"Lord, it is my chief complaint

That my love is weak and faint;
Yet I love thee, and adore,

Oh for grace to love thee more!"

Thus draw nigh to Him whose name is LOVE, and be assured that grace will be given, that there will be grafted in your heart the love of His Name, and that you will not go thence without the assurance kindling an answering flame within your bosom, "As the Father hath loved Me, even so have I loved you: continue ye in my love;" without the echo from your own heart of the declaration, "We love Him because he first loved us."

Some persons absorbed with the turmoil and struggle of life, when addressed on the subject of the Lord's Supper, say, “I have not time to come."

* Chalmers on Rom. viii. 28.

This is a fearful excuse.

It is as much as saying,

"I have not time to attend to my soul's salvation." “What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul; or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?" It may sound smoothly to your ears when you say, "I have a family; I must work hard. I cannot be reproached with neglecting my duties, and therefore I have no time to attend to the Sacrament." Did Jesus say he had not time for thy redemption? During those long hours of suffering and anguish borne in thy stead, did He utter murmur or complaint? And shalt thou protest that thou canst not spare one short hour for the remembrance thereof? No time to partake of the memorials of His love; no time to feed spiritually on His Body and Blood; no time therefore to be saved, for apart from that outpoured blood there is no salvation. The moments of this short life are ebbing fast. Eternity is very near. Answer it to thine own soul, how wilt thou reply to Him before whom thou shalt give an account of thy works, when He shall inquire concerning thy participation in the atonement of Jesus Christ? "I had no time? My worldly occupations were so many?" Then He will say, "Out of thine own mouth shall I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou hadst not time to take hold of the salvation offered thee in Christ. Now have I not time to remember