So it is with the feeble, fainting, hungry soul that desires life and righteousness, the bread of God that cometh down from heaven. He is so sensible of his unworthiness, of his rebellion of heart against God, his ignorance, his ingratitude, his obduracy, that he fears he may be too great a sinner, that he may be coming in a wrong manner, or may be wanting in certain pre-requisites necessary for acceptance. And therefore our Lord opposes to these and a thousand other suggestions, the sweeping denial of the text.

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"If you are cast out" (said the amiable and pious author of many devout religious publications, more than forty years since, to him who now addresses you) "it must be in some wise; either because you are too far gone in sin, or too late, or too old, or too young; or on some other account. But Christ says,

I will in no wise, in no manner, upon no account cast you out. If Christ had said, I will cast out none who come to me but ten or twenty of such a character and under such circumstances, then you might have feared that you were amongst the number of the excepted persons; but now the promise is general, universal, without exception; reciting only the act of coming, and denying the possibility of such an act being in vain."

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"Do poor scholars," observes a pious writer of the last century, 66 come to him to be taught; though they be slow and dull, he will not cast them out. Do poor patients come to him to be cured; though their case be bad, he will not reject them. Do poor clients come to him to be advised; though they come empty-handed, he will in no wise cast them out."

3. But, in truth, the promise extends further than the words may at first seem to import. It implies more than it expresses. By a very usual

2 The Rev. John Newton.

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figure of speech, we convey our meaning every day in terms less forcible, abstractedly considered, than we intend, or than others understand them. The promise includes not only the not rejecting, but the receiving with favor. Not only will Christ not cast out him that cometh to his banquet, as the master of the feast cast out the man that had not on a wedding garment, or as the foolish virgins were cast out, when they had gone to buy oil for their vessels, and the bridegroom had come and had shut to the door; but he will welcome them to his house, receive them amongst his guests, and place before them the most refreshing and copious provisions. He "does exceeding abundantly above all that they ask and think." Yes, he sends out "his servants at supper-time to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready;" he sends off other servants "into the streets and lanes of the city, yea into the highways and hedges, to compel them to come in, that his house may be filled." Him that cometh shall, so far from being rejected, "sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God."

The form of the expression turns on the not casting of the penitent out, because that is the immediate object of fear. The first thing is, not to be at once refused. Subsequent blessings-pardon, reconciliation, peace, illumination, grace, holiness, joy, strength, are another question. These are not so directly in the view of the supplicant; many of them he may not fully understand; but he understands this, that if he is at once rejected, all is lost; whereas if he is not cast out, but is admitted amongst the favored guests, every thing else may follow.

The full encouragement thus intended to be conveyed is so important, that one of the main offices

4 Meiosis.

of the minister of religion is to console dejected and trembling minds. It is as difficult to persuade the penitent of his being in the right path to life, as it is to convince the impenitent of his not being so. Presumption and self-confidence are so completely overthrown when God shines with grace into the heart, that distrust and fear are apt to succeed.

4. Consider then our Lord's uniform character. How did he treat those who applied to him when on earth? What petitioner did he refuse? Whom did he cast out? Was it the nobleman who thought himself unworthy that Christ should enter under his roof? Was it Jairus, whose daughter he raised? Was it the widow of Nain, whom, before she even applied to him, he addressed, as she was weeping over her only child? Or the woman of Canaan, or the sisters of Lazarus? Or was it Mary Magdalene out of whom went seven devils, and who came behind him at the table and washed his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and brake her box of ointment and poured it over his head; and whose pious act, when the Pharisees murmured, he declared should be told for a memorial of her, wherever the gospel should be preached over the whole world?

And did our Lord's parables speak the language of rejection? Was it the king who cast out the invited guests; or they themselves, who "made light of" it, and prayed that they might be "excused?" Does the joy of the shepherd over his recovered sheep, and of the woman over her piece of silver, mark any want of compassion towards returning penitents? Does not our Lord expressly interpret this by saying, that "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth?" And in the exquisite parable of the prodigal son, is the father represented as indifferent to the penitent youth ; did he reject his suit; did he delay his reception; did

he yield to the reproaches of the elder brother? Did he not, when he was yet a great way off, descry him, and have compassion on him, and run and fall on his neck and kiss him? Did he not interrupt the confession his son began to make, in order to put on him the best robe, and a ring on his finger, and shoes on his feet, and have the fatted calf prepared, that they might make " merry and be glad because this his son had been dead and was alive again, and had been lost and was found?"

Indeed, reflect only on the meek, benignant character of our Lord; his gentleness, his humility, his patience, his lovely carriage. Represent to yourselves his mild and gracious eye; mark the placid dignity and deeply-seated compassion of his countenance; catch the sweetness of his voice and action; suppose him to be now in the midst of us at this time, as he was amidst the unbelieving and scoffing Jews when he uttered the words of the text, and as he is spiritually in our assembly now. Listen to his accents of mercy. He stands and cries, "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." And can you fear a rejection? No; my brethren. He 66 came to seek and save them that were lost." name was called Jesus," Jehovah the Savior, cause he was to save his people from their sins." He was born to save, he taught to save, he died to save, he rose to save, he lives to save; and shall youcan you be cast out? No; "heaven and earth shall pass away, but Christ's words shall not pass away." Two things you must however bear in mind.

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Delays may be interposed in your receiving the full desires of your heart. This was the case sometimes on earth. The Syrophoenician supplicant was for a time apparently, and only apparently, refused. St. Paul informs us, he sought the Lord thrice for the removal of the goading thorn. These delays are to prepare us for receiving aright the ultimate bless

ing; they are to humble the conceit of our hearts; they are to make us more sensible of our need; they are, like the woman before the unjust judge, to awaken our importunity; they are to lead us to distinguish and mark the mercy when granted; they are to render joy and peace safe and holy; they are to prepare us for glorifying our Deliverer and esti, mating his immense love. If we can but continue praying, coming, seeking, knocking, we shall at length find. Nay the very fact of our being able to pray and wait, is itself a consequence of grace received in answer to our former supplications. Delay is one thing, rejection is another.

There may be also much anxiety and infirmity of faith, and many distressful feelings in those who have been received by Christ and admitted as accepted guests to the banquet. Joy is not the only grace to be wrought in the penitent's mind. There are many other things to be done there. Christians go on for years before anxious forebodings are strangers to their breast. "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall."

The manslayer, when he had attained the city of his refuge, might have many shudderings of soul still, lest the avenger of blood should enter. He had also to watch carefully afterwards, lest he should be tempted to pass beyond the city before the death of the high priest. A man may be escaped from a shipwreck and be standing on a rock, and yet from agitation and confusion he may think that the rock shakes, and that he shall perish in the waves. criminal may have a bond containing a royal pardon; and yet from fear and apprehension he may be unable to read it with calmness and derive all the consolation from it to which he is entitled.

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The direction in all such cases is, to go on; to pray without ceasing, to forsake known sin, to do known duty, to attend diligently the means of grace, to