the Holy Eucharist, and to that he
invites all Christians, and He sends forth His messengers to bid them
come, then they all with one consent begin to make excuse. The
messengers go to the man who has bought oxen, and invite him to the
supper of his lord, and his answer is, "I pray thee, have me excused."
They go to a man who has bought a farm, and his answer is, "I pray
thee, have me excused." They go to a man who has married a wife, and
his answer is, "I cannot come."

"Lo, I come!" says Christ. "I cannot come," says man. "Lo, I come to
man," says Christ. "I cannot come to Christ," says man.

I. It was the rule among the early Christians to communicate every
Lord's Day. The rule of the Church, as laid down in the service-books,
then ordered that all those who were open and scandalous livers, all
those who had committed some deadly sin, and had not been reconciled to
God, should leave church before the Consecration, after the reading of
the Gospel. Now suppose some good old bishop of that day were to rise
from the dead, and come into this church, what would he see?--Directly
the sermon is over,--a rush of almost all in the church, men, women,
and children, running out of the door, and only three or four, or at
most a dozen, remaining to partake of the Lord's Body. That is what he
would see. Now, what would he say?--He would lift up his hands in
horror, and say, "What is this? All these notorious sinners! All
these open profligates! All these burdened with mortal sin, cutting
them off from the grace of God! Take me back to my grave, I do not
want to see any more of such horrible days."

But if I happened to be present, I would say to him. "You are jumping
to conclusions too rashly. Times are altered. It is not the criminals
and profligates who go out of church before the Consecration of the
Blessed Sacrament, and are unworthy to eat of the Lord's Body, it is
those who cannot make up their minds to do exactly what the Lord
commanded; it is those who are half-hearted, who wish to serve God, but
do not want to serve Him very much." Then, I doubt not, the old bishop
would turn upon me with a wrathful face, and say, "Let me go back to my
grave! This is worse! A thousand times worse! The whole Christian
world has grown cold of heart, and dead of faith, if all with one
consent begin to make excuse, and say, 'I cannot come.' I had rather
they were either hot or cold, but because they are neither hot nor