They all with one consent began to make excuse ST. LUKE xiv. 15. And when one of them that sat at meat with Him heard these things, he said unto Him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. 16. Then said He unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: 17. And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come: for all things are now ready. 18. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. HIS parable, brethren, is appointed to be read for THIS the Gospel for this day: and I think that considering that it is a Communion Sunday, and considering the small number (small I mean in comparison with the population of the parish) who met this morning at the Lord's Table in pursuance of His gracious invitation to feed on His most sacred spiritual Body and Blood, it would be quite wrong in us to pass by the lesson which the Providence of God has so expressly suggested to our particular consideration to-day. Observe, then, first the occasion which led to the parable: a guest who was present with Him at the house of one of the chief Pharisees, hearing Him speak of the recompense which is promised at the resurrection of the just, could not refrain from exclaiming, O how blessed must these people be, who shall eat bread in the kingdom of Heaven! What a wonderful recompense will that be for having given bread to the poor and maimed, and lame and blind. What a glorious promise! Who would not do anything to gain such a reward! To eat bread,-to sit down at God's own Table, to be admitted to His feast, in His kingdom! Blessed indeed is he that shall, as you say, eat bread in the kingdom of God! "Then said He unto him, A certain man made a great supper and bade many: and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come: for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse." See how calmly, yet how sadly, and with what painful foresight of what would really be the case, the Lord replies to the guest's natural exclamation! You say, blessed will those be who are allowed to eat bread in the kingdom of Heaven: and you truly think so: and you are very right; for they will be greatly blessed. But I can tell you that they will mostly not come. Most of them will make excuses. They will not say point-blank that they do not choose to come; but they will find all manner of reasons why they should not come; and instead of accepting the invitation with glad and ready hearts, each will beg that the Master of the Feast will hold him excused, and so will all stay away. I suppose that the guest to whom the Lord addressed this answer could hardly believe it. He would probably think it quite impossible that men should be so wilful and so blind as to refuse an offer so blessed,—and think that the Lord was taking a gloomy, perhaps an unkind, view of men's neglectfulness and folly. But is not this mournful prediction fulfilled, brethren, monthly before our eyes? Are we not, time after time, bidden by our Lord Himself to come to His Table, to eat bread, and drink wine in the kingdom of God? to eat that sacred bread of which He said, Take eat, this is My Body, and to drink that sacred wine of which He said, Drink ye all of this, for this is My Blood, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins? Are we not told that so often as we eat that bread and drink that cup we do show forth and publish the gracious and saving death of Christ till He come? Are we not bidden to do this, so often as we eat and drink these sacred elements, in commemoration or remembrance of Him? Are we not told that except we eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood, that we have no life in us; but that if we eat His Flesh and drink His Blood He dwelleth in us, and we in Him: He is one with us, and we one with Him? Are we not told that the bread we break then is the participation of the Body of Christ, and the cup of blessing which we bless is the participation of the Blood of Christ? Are we not told that being partakers of that one bread we are one Body in Christ? Does any man doubt the truth of these things? Can I not shew you all of them, and many more besides them, written in the plainest way in your Bibles? Can you not read them there? not in one place only, but in many -not in one Gospel only, but in each Gospel, and in many Epistles? Do you doubt them? No: I venture to say, that you do not doubt them. You believe the words of Christ, and His Apostles, and you know that they are true. Do you not think that if any of you, being a person capable of serious thoughts, were told all this for the first time, having never heard it before: suppose any one were to say to you, Christ is going to offer you a spiritual feast. He promises that He will give you bread and wine at His Own Table: but that in that bread and wine He will really, and in a divine and spiritual way, be giving you the wonderful Food of your souls, His own Body and Blood, which will operate to pardon you, and strengthen you, and assure you of His favour, to cleanse you, to give your body and soul everlasting life, to give you assurance that still, even after all your sins which you know of, you need not doubt that you are really members of His most sacred Body the Church. How, I say, would any person, having any serious thoughts about religion at all, hear such things as these for the first time? Would he not exclaim, O how blessed, how inexpressibly blessed shall we be to be allowed thus to eat bread in the kingdom of Heaven! What happiness will it be, how we will love it, how we will flock to it, how all our friends will flock to it, how it will help us, how thankful it will make us, how it will bind us together, how it will show us that we all are one Bread and one Body, how it will cheer us in our sorrows, and how it will mix with our joys and sanctify them! How it will be to us, while we remain upon the earth, the constant assurance of our being partakers hereafter of that blessed marriage supper of the Lamb which we read of in the Book of the Revelation of St. John! None can doubt, I suppose, that this is the way in which we should speak of the Lord's Supper, if any person were to tell us, for the first time, the great things which are said of it in Holy Scripture. But now, |