alive to this evil of your sin, you are only half alive to it. Suppose that you are conscious that you do not half know yourself; that you do not half repent. Suppose that, instead of being weighed down with the burden with which your less sinful brother is, you only half lament your state. The principal thing that you feel is your want of true feeling in the matter.

What is to be done under such unpromising circumstances? Even then there is only one thing to be done,-to come to Him, and to Him alone, for He alone can either deepen repentance or strengthen faith.

you are

As, no doubt, you have been many and many a time told in sermons, and many and many a time read, that you are not to wait till better before you come to Christ, so you must assuredly not wait till you feel worse. There is no use in keeping from Him till you repent more and believe better. If you feel your want of repentance, if you feel your weakness, your want of faith, come to Him, that your repentance may be deepened and your faith strengthened. Come to Him with the words, "Lord, I repent; help Thou mine impenitence.' "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief."

"I will give you rest." "I will give you rest from trouble, so that it shall not distress you. I will give you comfort in sorrow, so that you shall not be cast down. In disappointment I

will give you a hope that never shall fail. In loneliness My holy angels shall be with you, and I Myself with My Father, according to My promise, will come to you and Make Our abode in you. Above all, I will forgive your sin. You shall hear Me say, or you shall know that I have said, Thy sins be forgiven thee; go in peace.' I will heal the wound of your nature. I will give you strength to walk before Me in righteousness. I will give you Him who is One with my Father and Myself; I will give you the Comforter. He shall shed abroad My love in your heart, and when once you love Me all my commandments will be easy to you. He shall give you My peace so that, having been justified by faith, you shall have peace with God through Me, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

I have not time at present to enter upon the exposition of the words of Christ which follow. Remember, however, that if you come to Him you must come to take His yoke upon you. "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek," &c.; and yet though He mentions a yoke, you need not fear, for He proceeds to say, My yoke is easy and My burden is light." How learning to be meek and lowly after Christ's example is taking His yoke and learning of Him, we must consider at some future time.

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Let us devote a few moments, in conclusion,

to the consideration of how we are to come to Him in the most comfortable sacrament of His body and blood.

In that wonderful discourse respecting the Blessed Sacrament, contained in the sixth chapter of St. John, Our Lord intimately connects together "coming to Him" and "feeding on Him." "He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of my flesh he shall live for ever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." (v. 35, 51.)

God, then, has joined together these two things, coming to Christ and eating His flesh. The Church, too, has joined them, for she bids us hear these most comfortable words of our Saviour Christ when we draw near to His Blessed Sacrament.

There are two sets of people who put these asunder-those who think to come to Christ without coming to the Communion, and those who come to the Communion without really and truly, and in their hearts, coming to Christ. Both these, I need not say, are miserably wrong.

They are wrong, indeed, who come to the Holy Sacrament without consciously thinking of Christ and desiring His grace, though with such a service as ours, which so sets forth the

Saviour, and in which the beams of His mercy shine so very bright, it is difficult to conceive how there can be such.

And they are wrong, indeed, who think of coming to Christ without coming to His Communion. Only think of people saying that they come to Him and yet holding aloof from Him when in the most solemn way He offers Himself to them. Only think of people coming to Him and not showing forth that death by which He atoned for their sins. Only think of people coming to Him and not making that remembrance of Him which He ordained when He gave Himself for them.

It cannot be.

In this way, my brethren, you may see as to your preparation for the Lord's table. If you have come, or are coming, or desire to come to Christ for what He promises-forgiveness, pardon, peace, strength, health of soul, comfort, the love of God shed abroad in youif you desire these things, and desire them in and through Christ, then you will be a fitting guest at His table.

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SERMON IX.

THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD.

ST. MATTHEW xix. 27-xx. 16.

"Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the market-place, and said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first