cold--away! I cannot bear to look at their faces! Let me go back to
my grave."

III. I know what is passing in your minds as well as if you had got
glass skulls. And this is what I see that not a few of you are
thinking. "Ha! there is the Parson at it again! always hammering away
at Communion. Can he not leave us alone? Let him talk to us of other
matters; let him preach to us some real stinging gospel truth, and make
us wince. Anything but this eternal preaching about coming to
Communion." Now I will tell you why I preach about this, and hammer,
hammer, at it. Because it is good stinging gospel truth, and the
grumbling that is going on is because your consciences really are
wincing at what I say.

Listen:--other folks talked like you in olden times. When the children
of Israel came out of Egypt, God in mercy sent them Bread from Heaven,
the manna, to feed them on their way through the wilderness. What said
the people in return for the blessing? Were they very grateful? Were
they very eager to gather up the Angels' food? By no means, they sat
grumbling in their tents and said, "Our soul is dried away; there is
nothing beside this manna before our eyes." Put into modern language
that is, "Our souls have dried up for want of preaching of free
justification, and no good at all in keeping the law; we don't want any
of your Sacramental teaching, no Communion for us, we can do very well
without that, our soul abhorreth this light food, as for this Holy
Communion, there is nothing but that preached to us, year in, year out."

Well! If this Sacramental teaching be not God's own blessed Gospel,
there is no meaning in words. Listen to this! I never said anything
so strong, and this is what Christ Himself spake:--"I am the Bread of
Life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. I
am the living bread which came down from heaven, if any man eat of this
bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My
flesh, which I give for the life of the world." "Verily, verily, I say
unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His
blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My
blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For
My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed."

Now--mark you. When Jesus said this, many of His disciples said, "This
is a hard saying"--and, from that time they went back, and walked no