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The making of idle excuses is the oldest, as it is the commonest of sins. It began with Adam in Paradise, and ever since that time men have, more or less, continued with one consent to make excuse. First, let us look at some excuses which people make for putting off repentance. Now listen to the story of one who repented late, but in time. During the London Mission, a lady, one of the Church workers in a certain parish, noticed a young girl lingering one night by a church door, where the mission service was about to commence. She invited the girl to enter, but she excused herself on the plea that she had no Bible. The lady offered her own, and accompanied the girl into church, where she was evidently much affected. On leaving the church, the lady begged her companion to accept the Bible, in which her own name was written, and the girl passed out of her sight. Next morning the lady visited a hospital, where she was accustomed to read to the patients, and a nurse informed her that they had a Bible bearing her name which had been brought in on the previous night. The young girl, after leaving the mission service, had been run over, and taken mortally injured to the hospital, carrying the Bible with her. She died the same night, and her dying words were these: "Thank God it was not before last night." Another common excuse for delaying repentance is this, "I am no worse than others." I was speaking lately to a mother about the sin of her daughter, and she excused her on the plea that she was no worse than others in a higher position, and instanced a lady who had sinned in the same way. But, my brethren, surely sin is none the less a sin because it is committed in the company of others. Again, people excuse themselves by saying, "It is so hard to repent." But it is still harder to die in our sins, and receive the wages of sin, which is death. It is hard to give up bad habits, but it is harder still to be ruined by them. Now let us look at another class of excuses which people make for staying away from church. One of these excusers says, "Church-going will save no one." That is quite true. You may come to church in a wrong state of mind, or from an unworthy motive, and no good will come out of it. Attendance at church is a means of grace, not grace itself. If rightly used it is a means of placing us in the way of salvation, and of keeping us there. If you get into a railway carriage at the station, the mere act of doing so will not take you to London, but if you do not first get in, the train cannot carry you there. Another self-excuser says, "Churchgoing is a mere form and show; pure religion is not outside, but inside one." It is perfectly true that pure religion is inside, and not outside. But surely we must show outside what we feel inside. Suppose that your landlord were to reduce your rent 20 per cent. because of the bad times, and were to give your children ,, handsome present as well, you would, I think, go up to his house to thank him, and you would not consider it a mere show. You would not leave him to imagine the gratitude inside you. Well, one of the chief reasons why we come to church is to thank God for His goodness, and to openly declare "the wonders that He doeth for the children of men." Another meets us with the old, old plea, "I was not very well on Sunday." It is a curious fact that more people are unwell on Sunday than on any other day of the week. They are quite able to attend to business on Saturday, and are quite fresh and ready for work on Monday, but they are poorly on Sunday. I am afraid the disease is one of the will rather than the body. I will only speak of one more excuse, as common as it is foolish. "I don't go to church myself," says a man, "but my wife goes." So much the better for the wife, so much the worse for the husband. You cannot do your duty by deputy, and you cannot save your soul by deputy. Every one of us must answer for himself. There is an old legend of a man who never attended church, but whose wife went regularly. Both died, and when they came to the gates of Paradise the woman passed in. But when the husband presented himself, the keeper of the gate said, "Your wife worshipped God for both of you, now she has gone into Paradise for both of you, you cannot enter here." My friends, you who have been trying to excuse yourselves from doing what is right, think on these things.

(H. J. Wilmot Buxton, M. A.)

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KJV: Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

WEB: But he said to him, "A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people.