are indeed no oxen or fatlings, but here is what is of infinitely greater value: here is the Lamb of God, Christ our passover sacrificed for us. O the mysteries of grace! You can all testify that his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed; and never were guests more welcome. "Eat, O friends," says he, "drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved!" And then follow the words that I began with.

"All things are ready ;" and I repeat it to you on God's part, and on Christ's part. All things are ready. Here is God the Father ready to give you his Son, if you will but give him your heart. He is ready to make an everlasting covenant with you, that he will never turn away from you to do you good. He will always acknowledge you, and provide for you as the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. Here is the Lord Jesus Christ ready to espouse you to himself, to give you so many precious blessings at present, and to settle upon you an inheritance, a kingdom, a crown of glory, which fadeth not away. Here is pardon, justification, peace, strength, comfort, heaven in the earnest and in its first fruits. All these things are here ready.

And now, christians, say, Are all things ready on your part too? When the king comes in to see the guests, is there nothing that you would wish to conceal? And when your Beloved comes into his

garden to eat his pleasant fruits, have you got all ready to entertain him? Alas! how few of us can Our confusion betrays us. boldly say we have!

There is something or other which is not as it should be. You may have on the wedding garment; God forbid that any one should venture to come hither without that; the consequences might be disgraceful and dreadful. I say, you have all, I hope, put on the wedding garment; but then there may be some accidental rent in it occasioned by your careless walking; or there may be some accidental spot upon it, occasioned by the impurity of the persons or places you have unwarily mixed with; or you may be ruffled and discomposed by some outward trouble. From these or other causes, christians, perhaps few of us are quite so ready as we could wish. But what is to be done? God is ready, and Christ is ready; and shall we keep them waiting while we go home and endeavour to put ourselves in better order? No; now we are here, let us humbly acknowledge and bewail our sinful unreadiness, and implore mercy to pardon, and grace to help in this our time of need.

And now, christians, after what you have here tasted and seen, you are ready to forget what you yourselves once were, and to wonder at what follows in this affecting story.

"But they made light of it, and went their ways,

one to his farm, another to his merchandise. "What!" you are ready to cry with surprise and indignation; "what! make light of a union with the Lord Jesus Christ! make light of all the soul-enriching, soulennobling blessings of grace and glory! make light of them! and for what?" O my mistaken and unhappy friends, who choose rather to be lookers on than guests; for what do you make light of Christ and his proposals? Be assured that you can never have better offers elsewhere; and let me tell you, that you may not have such an offer from Christ many times more. You may refuse him once too often. He may resent it, and declare that you, who have been so frequently bidden and refused, shall never taste of his supper. I mean not, by thus setting forth the terrors of the Lord, to make you hurry away to the sacrament; but I should be glad, if by any means I might persuade you to hasten to Christ. Get his name on your foreheads, his grace in your hearts, and you will need no other passport.

And now go and meditate on that precious, precious text, which has been the means of the conversion of some, and the encouragement of thousands. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in and sup with him, and he with me," Rev. iii. 20.

MEDITATION IX.

[August 1, 1790.]

1 SAMUEL XVIII. 23.

AND DAVID SAID, SEEMETH IT TO YOU A LIGHT THING TO BE A KING'S SON-IN-LAW, SEEING THAT I AM A POOR MAN, AND LIGHTLY ESTEEMED?

So said David, when some came and, with a great deal of light frothy joy, told him that he would probably be soon married to the daughter of king Saul. The elevation was so great and so unexpected that it almost overawed him. He could hardly believe it possible that such a poor man as he should be set among princes; and he was afraid he should not know how to behave with becoming dignity and propriety in such an honourable station. O, christians, much more reason have we to think so, and say so, in our present situation, and with the privileges and prospects now before us. Is it a light thing for such poor sinful worms as we to sit down and sup with the Lord of glory? Is it a light thing for such hungry perishing prodigals as we to feast with, to feast upon the Lord of life.

Surely they must

be utterly unworthy of a place at this table who can make light of it. The place, the company, the entertainment, the business, every thing conspires to make us thoughtful and serious. Let us consider where we are. Not in our own house, where negligence in dress, and negligence in carriage and conversation, is not so much attended to. Not in a house of public entertainment, where all is mirth and jollity. Not in the shop or ordinary working place, where the world engrosses all our thoughts, and nothing is considered but buying and selling, and getting gain. Very different, quite different is the place where we are now assembled. We are in the King's palace. We are in the very presence chamber of the King of saints, where he gives audience to those who have memorials to present, and where he meets, and familiarly converses with his particular friends and favourites. At such times every one makes a point of appearing in his best garments, and the person that should rudely thrust himself in, in a slovenly undress, would probably and deservedly be turned out. So shall we, if any one should presume to sit down among the guests at this table, not having on the wedding garment, both the outer garment of a Saviour's righteousness, and the inner garment of the graces of the Spirit, we are where we ought not to be; where it is not fit, and where it is not safe for us to be. Better be a thousand miles off, better be any where