repentance, faith, charity, and thankfulness-are they to be despised? And is the need of self-examination, without which people are exhorted not to come, so little that we can easily dispense with it? Oh, I think not! and I believe that is the answer which you all would give. No; if we are true and faithful servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, we should give great weight to this reason for our coming to the Lord's Supper, because there we may have our souls refreshed and strengthened with heavenly food; because the spiritual benefits received by worthy communicants are so great; because "blessed, thrice blessed, are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."

Another reason why we should come to the Lord's table is, because there we may meet together in Christian love and unity. Perhaps it would hardly be fitting in these modern days to have the "love feasts" of the early Christian Church, which St. Paul speaks of in the epistle to the Corinthians. And yet, though we may be without the external accompaniments, there is no reason why we should lose the spirit of these gatherings. Believe me, there is not too much love and unity in the Church; and anything which tends to draw us more closely to one another, anything which serves to remind us more forcibly that we are brethren," must be good for us. And this is especially the case with the Holy Communion. It is one of the greatest bonds of union, it is one of the strongest incentives to peace, and it has often been made a solemn pledge of reconciliation between Christian brethren. It seems to impress upon our minds, perhaps more thoroughly than anything else

in Christianity, the great lesson of the apostle John: "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." And this reason too ought to have much influence in leading true Christians to come to the Lord's Table.

One other reason I will give, and it is this-because the Holy Communion affords a very great opportunity for displaying a true Christian example. The Lord's Table should be, as it were, the standard round which the faithful soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ should rally; it ought to be regarded as a spot where those who really love and serve Christ may show forth to the world the example of Christian life and character. It should serve as a distinguishing mark of those who are sincere and genuine in their Christian profession. And those who are such ought to be glad of so good an opportunity of professing from time to time their faith and allegiance towards Christ. I do not say that no hypocrites ever come to the Lord's Table; I fear that sometimes there are some who come, but I believe they are very, very few, and, as I have said before, this is no reason why we should stay away; but I am quite sure that, if we use it aright, the Lord's Supper may be made a great means of bringing out and encouraging a spirit of true manly devotion towards our divine Master. And this is no slight reason why those of us "who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity" should be regular attendants at His Holy Table.

And while I am speaking on this point, let me remark upon one thing which is deserving of notice; I mean the great preponderance of women over men

that is usually seen in the attendance at the Lord's Supper. This last reason I have given you would seem to be an especial inducement to Christian men to come forward with true manliness to confess the faith of Christ crucified." And yet it is not so; for men are usually conspicuous by their absence from the Lord's Table. And what makes it even more remarkable still is, that at the first Lord's Supper they were all men around the Table. Let me press this matter earnestly upon you-"ye that are men now serve Him." Do not be ashamed of coming forward to confess Christ. Come and take part in this feast of His dying love; come and strengthen your brethren who are already in the habit of coming; come, because "blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."

I suppose we all of us wish to be among the number of those who "shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God." Surely I am right in saying that there is not one of us who has not the fervent desire (many of us, thank God, have the blessed hope and assurance) of being among the guests at the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven. Yet how many of us hold back for some reason or other from meeting round the Lord's Table on earth. Why is it? How can we expect to be welcome guests in heaven if we refuse the gracious invitation to the earthly feast? Shall we not feel very strange if we have to sit down at the Lord's Table for the first time in heaven? And if our Lord were to ask us how it was that He had never seen us at the sacred feast which He Himself had instituted before

He died, should we not all of us be, like the man without the wedding garment, "speechless"? These thoughts press themselves very often upon people's minds just when they are about to die, and very often there is deep regret felt then at past neglect; but it is far better that they should press themselves upon us while we are in the midst of life. That is why I have brought this subject before you so fully; that is why I have laid such stress upon its importance; and that is why I do now most earnestly beg those of you who are sincere in your religion, those of you who have really accepted Christ as your Saviour, those of you who are seeking to lead a Christian life, and who desire to lead a better one- I do exhort you to come and draw nigh to the Lord's Table. The coming Easter-tide is a very fitting season for you either to begin, or to begin again, this most beneficial and helpful practice. And if you do begin, do not, I beseech you, leave it off again. I am very sure of this, that if you take part in it in the right way, every time you come to the Lord's Supper will only make you feel more deeply the truth of these words in the text, "Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."

XVIII.

Where Should the Weary Go?

Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."-MATT. xi. 28.

T is one of the chief features in a perfect moral character to combine a stern, consistent, uncompromising abhorrence and detestation of sin with the deepest tenderness and love for the sinner; to maintain a resolute and inflexible attitude against Satan, and yet a gentle and winning demeanour towards fellow-man; to repel the one, and to attract the other; to preserve duty towards God, and duty towards man, alike intact; to be "faithful and merciful."

This is a special characteristic of God and His dealings; for example, the very declaration of man's sentence and punishment at the fall contained a promise of the future Deliverer. The sweeping destruction of mankind by the flood was the antecedent, nay, rather the indirect cause, of the ever