the good opinion of any of their fellow creatures, I would tell them that this is hypocrisy and deceit, and so far from being acceptable to God must be most displeasing in His sight. Again, if any think of coming without repenting of their sins, without love and thankfulness to Christ, they had far better not come at all: for it is impossible, in that case, that it can do them any good, or be of any comfort to their souls. The holy psalmist has given us the best directions for coming to the Lord's supper properly, when he says, I will wash my hands in innocency, O Lord, and so will I go to thine altar: that is, I will make myself clean from every sin by repentance, as a man washes out a stain from his hands with water.

I trust that we, who are intending this day to go to the altar of God, are endeavouring thus to wash our souls and to make them clean and acceptable in the sight of God, by a hearty repentance for all our offences against Him, and by rooting out from our hearts every unkind, uncharitable and revengeful thought or wish that we

may ever have indulged against any of our fellow-creatures. If to such an humble repentance for our own sins, and love and charity to mankind, we join a lively faith in Christ and a thankful remembrance of His sufferings and death, and a stedfast resolution with God's help to become better, as we grow older, day by day, though we shall still be unworthy sinners and unprofitable servants, yet we can do no more: and if God sees that we are in earnest, and are neither attempting nor desiring to deceive Him, we may be sure that His blessing will rest upon us, and that we shall be acceptable in His sight: and the body and blood of our Blessed Lord and Saviour will strengthen and refresh our souls, as the bread and wine which we receive in remembrance of Him, support and strengthen our bodies.

My brethren, may you and I, and all who endeavour worthily to partake the holy sacrament, receive increasing comfort from it every time! May it be the means, as undoubtedly it will, of bringing down upon us the grace and blessing of the

Almighty! May it lead us more and more to forsake our evil ways, and all our unrighteous thoughts, that we may return to the Lord and find mercy, and that our God may abundantly pardon us! May He,

whose precious death we celebrate, in remembrance of whose body bruised for our sins, and blood shed for our forgiveness, we take and eat the bread and wine, may He be present with us at this sacred feast, strengthening us in all our resolutions and endeavours to serve Him, both now and evermore and, unworthy as we are, of ourselves, to gather up even the crumbs beneath His table, may He make us worthy to serve Him in this present life, and to be with Him in glory in the life to come! for without Him we can do nothing, and He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.

SERMON XXXVIII.

LUKE xii. 20.

Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.

THAT We are all to die, we are as certain as that we are now alive. That we must, in a very few years at farthest, all of us, whatever our condition in life may be, be laid in the grave and turned to dust, we are as sure as that we now breathe and enjoy the numberless blessings which God. Almighty has given us. Of this we cannot be ignorant even if we would: for too much takes place every day of our lives to remind us of the end to which we are hastening. Almost in every week that passes: if death does not come exactly among ourselves, the bell from some neighbouring church tells us of the departure of

a fellow-creature's soul: and every grave that we see covered in over the cold and lifeless remains of those who once relished life as much as we do now, bids us remember that dust we are, and unto dust must soon return. But this is not all that we

are certain of: not only are we sure that we must die and that these bodies must perish and decay, but we who have been born and bred in a Christian country, and have had the Gospel to direct and instruct us, are certain likewise that death will not be the end of us; that our bodies and our souls shall be joined together again at the last; and that we shall live on, to all eternity, either in the happiness of heaven, or the misery of hell. Yet, strange to say, certain as we are of these great and fearful truths, it never could be supposed, from the lives which too many of us lead, that they had ever been made known to us, that we had ever thought of leaving this world, or ever looked forward to another. Whilst some are led away by the devil to commit every sin that comes uppermost in their hearts, giving way to the lusts of the