evil-speakings; and a heart full of vain and vicious thoughts stinks like the lake of Sodom; He finds no rest there; and when He enters, He is vexed with the unclean conversation of the impure inhabitants, and flies from them with the wings of a dove, that He may retire to pure and whiter habitations."

And thus much for Preparation generally. But, besides this, a special Preparation is at all times necessary as we would "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." Holy and heavenly things,spiritual manna, which, so to say, is angels' food,—and "the blood of Christ which is verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper" under the symbol of consecrated wine, these emblems of death so precious, and pledges of life to the godly receiver, must not be taken as common food, but as sacred viands. That Preparation, which by God's grace

ends in sanctification, is to be ever in the Pious Communicant's thoughts. And because it was not so in the thoughts of the profane Corinthian Communicants, it turned to their harm, in some cases was their death. As St. Paul told them in his teaching, "Whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body," that is to say, "eateth and drinketh just judgment and condemnation to himself, not considering the greatness of this Mystery, and making no difference betwixt this sacred bread, which is sacramentally the body of Christ, and the other common and ordinary bread." And the result was as I said, many were "weak and sickly,"

and "many" slept,-were stricken with death itself; whereas, had they eaten and had they drunk in faith, like Elijah the prophet of the Lord, they might have gone on to their lives' end "in the strength of that meat" which cherisheth the souls of God's people, and of which it can be verily and truly said: "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die."

Therefore, prepare yourselves, ye Christian People! With a holy faith and with a holy life, with forgiving tempers and love unfeigned, with lowly and with humble hearts, draw ye nigh and take this Holy Sacrament to your comfort. And withal consider that "this Sacrament is intended to unite the spirits and affections of the world, and that it is diffusive and powerful to this purpose (for "we are one body," saith St. Paul, because "we partake of one bread);"—so that "possibly we may have

reason to say, that the wars of kingdoms, the animosity of families, the infinite multitude of law-suits, the personal hatreds, and the universal want of charity, which hath made the world miserable and wicked, may in a great degree be attributed to the neglect of this great symbol and instrument of charity. The Chalice of the Sacrament is called by St. Paul, "the cup of blessing;" and if children need every day to beg blessings of their parents, if we also thirst not after this cup of blessing, blessing may be far from us. It is called "the communication of the blood of Christ;" and it is not imaginable that man should love heaven, or felicity, or his Lord, that desires not perpetually to bathe in that salutary stream, the blood of the Holy Jesus, the immaculate Lamb of God." And thus much for Preparation, which each one must see to, (for there is no laying down definite rules to suit each man's case,) as

best he may. That wise Hebrew spake not without his host when he said, "A man's mind is sometimes wont to tell him more than seven watchmen that sit above in an high tower." And so it is on this matter, "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?" Therefore, examine yourselves well and wisely, and, in preparing for this Holy Sacrament, PREPARE TO MEET YOUR GOD."

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And this leads me to the last point I wished to consider, that is, the excuses men make, when they are not willing to communicate. And here, as many a time and oft before, I cannot do better than refer you to the Second Exhortation, in which the man, whose mouth is filled with excuses, is set down in the quietest and most decisive manner. the Scripture speaketh, so speaketh it, homewards, altogether, and to the purpose:-" Ye know how grievous and unkind a thing it is, when a man hath

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