outward acts, which were peculiar to the Corinthians, as the inward motives and dispositions, which by nature may be common to us all.  Now these are described in ver. 29:—“Not discerning the Lord’s body.”  They ate and drank without regarding the deep solemnity of the holy sacrifice which the communion was appointed to commemorate; nor did they come there with any desire, as hungering and thirsting souls, to feed upon their Saviour by faith.  They lost sight of his grace and sufferings in the pursuit of their own ends, and the gratification of their own appetites.  When, therefore, persons come to the Lord’s table in a light, frivolous, or careless spirit; either that they may not appear less religious than their companions; or because it is the habit of the family, the wish of their masters, or a becoming act in their rank and station; but without any deep feeling of the love and work of Christ Jesus; there is too much reason to fear that the text applies in all its awful force to them.

And this suggests the extreme caution with which individuals should be urged to become communicants.  Masters will, sometimes, show great zeal in persuading servants to attend the sacrament, and parents will bring their children thither as a matter of course, on their attainment of a certain age.  Yet such children or servants may be unconverted persons, not discerning the Lord’s body; in danger, therefore, of coming unworthily to the table.  Begin, therefore, at the right end, and strive first for their conversion to Christ.

(3.) So, also, it applies to those what are living in presumptuous sin,—drunkards, fornicators, unclean persons, dishonest men in trade, and such like.  By allowing themselves in such practices, they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.  In coming to his table they profess that they know him, but in the allowance of their lust they by works deny him.  In coming, therefore, to the Lord’s table, they do but dishonour his holy name; nor can we avoid the sad conclusion that they come there unworthily, and according to the language of the text, “are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.”  We dare not, therefore, advise such characters to become communicants, for they cannot do so without imminent peril to their soul.  According to the language of our Church, “If any of you be a blasphemer of God, an hinderer or slanderer of his word, an adulterer, or be in malice, or envy, or in any other grievous crime, repent you of your sins, or else come not to that holy table.”

But we must not here leave the case of those unhappy men.  They cannot come worthily to the communion.  For what, then, are they worthy?  To pray? to die? to appear before the Lord at his coming?  How will that angry temper, or that darling sin, appear before the heart-searching God of Glory?  Will it be less deadly then than now?  If it now excludes you from his communion, how will it then fare with you in his kingdom?  If ye be now so in love with sin that ye cannot commemorate redemption, what interest do ye suppose ye have in Christ’s atonement?  If ye know so little of the cross of Christ, what can ye expect in his coming kingdom?  We do not say that none can be saved who do not attend the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper; but we do say, without the smallest hesitation, that none will be saved who are found so wedded to their sins that they cannot receive it worthily.

But there are many tender consciences in the Church of Christ, and many hopeful persons who are apt to write hard things against themselves.  Such persons will sometimes so deeply feel the solemnity of the warning, that they tremble at the thoughts of communion, and because they see in themselves great defects, are afraid lest possibly they should come unworthily to that sacred feast.  Such a conscientious spirit must be respected greatly, and treated tenderly; it is much more hopeful than when persons regard the thing without a fear.  It is, important, however, to avoid a mistaken dread, and great care is needful lest such characters should be debarred from that which is designed for their especial benefit.  It may be well, therefore, to examine a few of those cases to which the words are sometimes applied in practice, though not in Scripture.

(1.) They do not apply to persons actively engaged in the business of life.  It has pleased God to place us in a world in which we are surrounded by various cares and duties.  Some are in business, and have their minds constantly occupied by its management; some are servants, and required to work hard throughout the week; and others have so much to do in the maintenance and management of their families, that their hands are completely full, and their thoughts engrossed by the necessary engagements of the day.  In such cases persons often feel that they had rather wait until they are more at leisure.  They have little time for meditation; they find that their pursuits tend to make their minds secular, causes of irritation frequently arise, and they are led, it may be, into conduct which they fear might be unbecoming the communicant of the Lord.  They, therefore, postpone the communion in the hope of greater leisure; the usual result of which postponement is, that one delay follows another till the whole desire becomes extinct within the soul.  The servant, for example, waits till she is settled; she then waits again till she is less harassed with a small and increasing family; and then she waits till freed from the cares of providing for their entrance into life; till at length the infirmities of old age creep rapidly upon her, and she goes to her grave having spent her whole life in waiting.  Now all this waiting is founded on a wrong principle,—a principle often strengthened by a misunderstanding of the words of St. Paul.  If it were wrong to attend to life’s engagements, there would then be some force in the objection.  But the Scripture says that diligence in business as a duty, “Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.”  It is plain, therefore, that attention to a lawful calling can form no barrier to the means of grace.  Thus many of the holiest saints of God have been engaged in active life.  Enoch had his family; Moses was the leader of Israel; and David had the charge of a nation’s government.  There, is, we know, a tendency in the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches to choke the word, that it becometh unfruitful.  But this should rather draw a man to the means of grace than keep him from them.  If we are exposed to great temptation, then we need great strength; and if harassed by the world’s influence, we need the more peculiar help, that we may not be infected by its spirit.  The question, therefore, comes to this, Do you intend to abandon yourself to the spirit of the world?  If you do, by all means abstain from the communion.  But if it is your heart’s desire, in the midst of the world, to walk with God; then neglect no means of seeking him, but in the way of his judgments wait on him, that he may give you grace to overcome, and by his own mighty Spirit set you free from its snares.

(2.) The words of St. Paul do not apply to young and inexperienced believers.  There is sometimes a tendency in devoted persons to discourage beginners, and hold them back from the communion until they reach a certain point in spiritual attainment; until, for example, they are able to recognise a full and experimental knowledge of the great principles of the Gospel.  So young Christians of a tender spirit are often ready to fall in with such advice; and because they know they would come, to a certain extent, ignorantly, they fear