Name here; and has said of it "This is My House" and for this reason come we hither to praise God, as our King: to render thanks for all the gifts which He has poured upon us; and to hear the laws of our King proclaimed and published, so often as the word of God is read. or preached we come here in order to bring to God our free-will offerings, not bullocks and goats, but songs of praise; not to sacrifice burnt-offerings, but to offer up wholly to God our own living hearts, that they may be kindled with fire from on high, and be utterly burnt up with love for Him. Here we come to bow down before the Lord, and to acknowledge ourselves His servants; and thus we worship the Father in truth by coming to Church we confess the Son of Man to be indeed our King, being the Son over His own house, and we profess our trust that if we be His people, He will rule over us both now and hereafter. Here we offer unto our King the first-fruits of the wheat and of the grape by placing upon the holy altar bread and wine, which He as a King gives back again to us, now no longer as earthly food, but as meat sent from heaven itself, to nourish and sustain our souls unto life everlasting. All these are reasons why we come to Church, whensoever we

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are able; not for the benefits which we hope to receive, but in the first place, for the honour we are bound to pay to our King; which honour He most receives at our hands when we offer it publicly in His own house.

Let us not forget the words, "Them that honour Me I will honour, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed." If we had nothing to ask of an earthly king we must appear before him when he called us, or suffer the punishment of rebels and traitors: and is there in Scripture no warning which tells the end of those who will not confess before men that Christ is their King, who will not present themselves in His royal court? Will He not also deny them before the angels when in open majesty He sits as Judge and King upon His throne? Be assured, brethren, when you lightly stay away from Church you do far more than lose words which might do good to your souls; you even do more than neglect to pray, and so go without those good gifts which God especially gives to them that ask, where two or three are gathered together in His name: for, besides and above all this, you refuse to present yourselves before the Lord when He calls you into His court: you am busy, and therefore I cannot come."

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If your King has given you the power and opportunity of appearing before Him, and has builded for you this house of His abode, that none may say "there is no room for me," and yet you wilfully do not choose to come, how can you expect His blessing on anything else that you do, even though you think you are seeking His glory? How can you persuade yourself that you are obeying God's laws when you thus slight and dishonour Himself? But what need to speak of the terrors of the Lord among Christians? It is better indeed to be compelled to come in by fear of our king's wrath, than to remain altogether without till the door is closed; but why not come willingly, from love and devotion to Him? It is better to be driven with the whips and scourges of His threatenings, than to linger among our own cares and fancies till it be too late to knock : but why will we not be drawn even now with the cords of His loving-kindness? then should we indeed taste all His sweetness. Men go long journeys to see a gracious king, and think themselves much honoured if they may but once bow down before him; men look back upon it as the great event of their lives that they have been presented to the king in his palace. Why is it not so with us towards our God and King? Is our Great King less gracious than monarchs of this

world? or do we despise His court because it is at all times open to us, and we fancy we may present ourselves before Him when we will? What if He should close against us these doors which we enter unwillingly? What we call an accident may in a moment, if He but speak the word, disable any one of us from coming again to Church for years.

There have been men less blest than we in outward privileges, who said from the heart, "I was glad when they said unto me we will go unto the house of the Lord," and "as the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so pánteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God: . . . when shall I come and appear before God?" "My soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the courts of the Lord." When it is thus with men they do indeed "serve the Lord with gladness" and "come before His presence with singing." Verily, brethren, if our souls were thus set to serve the Lord, if with the heart we believed, as well as with the tongue confessed, that the Church is none other but the house of God, and this the gate of heaven, we should throng with holy eagerness and haste into the courts of the Lord.

JOHN HENRY PARKER, OXFORD AND LONDON.

Sermons for the Christian Seasons.

EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

FEARFULNESS AND CHRISTIAN FEAR.

JOHN xxi. 1, 2, 3, 7. After these things Jesus shewed Himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed He Himself. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of His disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing.. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.

In the epistles of St. Paul, that Apostle continually takes for granted a truth which we often find it hard to bring home to ourselves, namely, that the life of the spirit is indeed easier than the life of the flesh: that the service of God is in itself pleasanter than the service of the devil, apart from all consideration of the future rewards promised to the one, and the punishment threatened to the other; in short, he does not generally