How very often it happens, when the subject of religion is mentioned, that we hear people say, "I go regularly to church." And this is thrown in the teeth of the clergy, as if the very fact of church attendance was quite enough in itself to save the soul. But do you think that Jesus Christ would have left His Father’s throne in heaven, and lived those thirty troubled years, and died that terrible death, if salvation was so easy? Do you think that if men could be saved by merely going to church, our blessed Lord would have made use of such expressions as "_Strive_" (that is, toil, labour hard) "to enter in at the strait gate," or again, "Many shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able"? I hardly think He would. Religion was made for man, and not man for religion. It was given him as the means whereby he might speak to God, and hold frequent communion with his Maker. It is quite possible to be a most regular attendant at church, and yet to go away without receiving the slightest benefit. Some time ago I heard of an old woman who regularly went to a place of amusement, where she had been accustomed to go as a child. And though she became at last quite deaf, and nearly blind, she still persisted in going. And, reader, there is such a thing as deafness of the soul. The beautiful words of Scripture, the grand soul-stirring music, the touching words of our Church’s prayers, may all pass by unheeded, unless the soul is waiting upon that God Who is her helper and deliverer. But there is quite another class of persons, who receive no benefit from our Church’s services. I mean those who never go to church at all. Sometimes when the clergyman goes to see them they find it convenient to tell a lie, and say they are chapel people; but they never go to chapel. They live from day to day, and from year to year, as if there was no God, no church, no minister, no Bible. And when they come to die, what then? They go down into that dark hereafter of uncertainty; uncertain indeed to them, for they have neglected during their life everything that kindles and keeps alive the hope of a better world. Reader, if this is your case, if you have neglected church-going, let me implore you to do so no longer. The day will come when you will have to confess your sins, not to man but to God. There will be no concealment then; no shirking, or hiding your real motives under cover of a lie. The eyes of Almighty God will look you through and through; and if you take any excuses to Him, be sure they will not avail you.