"Have mercy upon, me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness;
according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my
transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me
from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever
before me. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a
contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."--PSALM li. 1, 2, 3, 17.
This Psalm was written by David when he was sorrowing for sin, and if
there are any such among you, my dear friends, let me speak a few words
to you. Would to God that I had the tongue of St. Paul to speak to you
with--though even when he preached some mocked, as it will be to the end.
But if to one of you God has brought home His truth, then to that one
conscience-stricken sinner I will say, "You confess with David that all
your sorrows are your own fault. Thank God that He has taught you so
much."
But what will you do to be saved from your sins? "I cannot wait," you
say in your heart, "to go home and begin leading a new life. I will do
that, please God, but I want to know at once that I am forgiven. I want
to be saved. I cannot save myself. I cannot save myself from hell
hereafter, or from this miserable sinful life, nearly as bad as hell
here. Oh! wretched being that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this death?"
Friend, dost thou not know it is written, "Believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved."
"_Ah yes_!" _says the sinner_, "_I have been hearing that all my life_,
_and much good it has done me_! _Look at me_, _I want something more
than those words about Christ_, _I want Christ Himself to save me if He
can_."
Ah, my brother!--poor sinner! thou hast never believed in Christ, thou
hast only believed _about_ Christ. There was the fault. But Christ
Himself will save thee, though thou hast been the worst of reprobates, He
will save thee. Only one thing, He _will_ have thee answer first. "Dost
thou wish to be saved from the _punishment_ of thy sins, or from the sins
themselves?"
"_From my sins_--_from my sins_," says the man who truly repents. "_They
are what I hate_, _even while I commit them_. _I hate and despise
myself_, _I dare look neither God nor man in the face_, _and yet I go on
doing the very things I loathe the next minute_. _Oh_, _for some one to
save me from my own ill-temper_, _my own bitter tongue_, _my own
laziness_, _my own canting habits_, _my own dishonesty_, _my own
lustfulness_. _But who will save me from them_? _who will change me and
make a new creature of me_? _Oh_, _for a sign from heaven that I can get
rid of these bad habits_! _I hate them_, _and yet I love them_. _I long
to give them up_, _and yet_, _if some one stronger than me does not have
mercy on me_, _I shall go and do them again to-morrow_. _I am longing to
do wrong now_, _and yet I long not to do wrong_. _Oh_, _for a sign from
heaven_!"
Poor sinner!--My brother! _there_ is a sign from heaven for thee! On
that table it stands. A sign that Christ's blood was shed to wash out
thy sins, a sign that Christ's blood will feed thee, and give thy spirit
strength to cast away and hate thy sins. Come to Holy Communion and
claim thy share in Christ's pardon for the past, in Christ's strength for
the future.
"_What_!" says the sinner, "_I come to the Sacrament_! _I of all men the
most unfit_! _I who but yesterday committed such and such sins_!"
Friend, as to the sin you committed yesterday, confess that to God, not
me. And if you confess it to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive it.
But just because you think yourself the most unfit person to come to the
Holy Sacrament, for that very reason I suspect you to be fit.
"_How then_!" says he in his heart, "_I have but this moment repented of
my sins_! _I have but this moment_, _for the first time felt that God's
wrath is revealed against me_, _that hell is open for me_!"
For that very reason, come to the Holy Sacrament, and thou shalt hear
there that not hell at all, but heaven is open for thee.
"_What_, _with all this guilty conscience_, _this load of sins against
myself_, _my neighbours_, _my children_, _my masters_, _my servants_, _on
my back_!"
Yes, bring them all, and say in the words of the Communion Service: "I do
earnestly repent, and am heartily sorry for these, my misdoings; the
remembrance of them is grievous unto me; the burden of them is
intolerable." Why, for whom were these words written, but for you who
feel that the burden of your sins is intolerable. They are there, not
for those who feel no burden of sin, but for you--for you, and for those
like you who feel the burden of your sins unbearable.
"_But how shall I dare to come to the Lord's table before I am sure that
my sins are forgiven_?"
Come and you will hear your minister pray God to pardon and deliver you
from all for Christ's sake. You will hear him read God's promises of
free grace and mercy through Jesus Christ to all who truly repent.
"_But I cannot trust your prayers or words_, _or any man's_. _I want a
sign that I have a share in Christ's death and merits_."
Then, that bread and wine is a sign. Jesus Himself ordained them for a
sign. He Himself, with His dying voice declared that that bread was His
body, that cup the new covenant in His blood. St. Paul declares that it
is the communion, the sharing of Christ's body, that cup the sharing of
His blood. What more sign do you want? Come and claim your share in
Christ, and see if He disappoints you.
"_Ah_! _I believe_," _says the poor man_, "_I believe_, _but I am
afraid_, _afraid of partaking unworthily_, _and so provoking God_, _as
the Prayer-book says to plague me with divers diseases and sundry kinds
of death_."
My Friend, if God was the devil, you might be afraid indeed. But He is
the loving, righteous Father, who knows your weakness, and remembers that
you are but dust. Can you not trust Him to pardon your mistakes about
the Sacrament, which you do not wilfully intend to commit, when He has
borne with, and pardoned all the sins from your youth up until now, which
you have wilfully committed? Surely, you may trust Him in such a thing
as this,--He who has had long-suffering enough to keep you alive, with a
chance of salvation all this time? and as for sundry diseases, _have_ you
avoided them? You have certainly not avoided them, at least, by staying
away from the Sacrament, and breaking Christ's command to take it? If
you are so afraid of God's anger, are you more likely to provoke Him by
disobeying His strict commands, or by obeying them? It needs no
philosopher, my friend, to find out that.
"_But I shall have to make good resolutions_," _says the sinner_, "_and I
am afraid of breaking them_."
Well, if you break them, you can but make them again. You would call him
a fool who determined never to walk, because he was afraid of falling.
But you are to claim in that Sacrament your share of Christ's Spirit,
Christ's life, and Christ's strength, which is just what you want to
enable you to keep your good resolutions. You will be no stronger, no
more righteous of yourself after the Sacrament than before. Your spirit
will still be a poor weak sinful spirit, but you will have claimed your
share in God's strength, God's righteousness, God's Spirit, and _they_
will make you love the good you hated, and hate the evil you loved. They
will make you strong to do God's will whatever it may cost you. Oh
believe the good news, and show that you believe by coming to Christ. He,
the Blessed One, died for you. For you He was born and walked this
earth, a poor suffering, tempted, sorrow-stricken man. For you He hung
upon the shameful cross. For you He ascended up on high. For you He
sent down His Spirit. For you He sits at the right hand of God, praying
for you at this moment. For you He gave the signs of His body and His
blood, that you might believe, and fall on your knees and cry, "In spite
of all, I am forgiven. In spite of all, God cares for me. In spite of
all, I have a Father and a Saviour who will never leave me, nor forsake
me, wretch as I have been, till they make a man of me again, in this
world, and for ever!" Oh! come, my dear, dear friends. I would give my
right hand this moment, if I could but see each and every one of you
shewing the truth of your repentance by coming to Holy Communion. Let
this be a day of repentance, and shew it thus, and say, "We do not come
to this, Thy table, O Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in Thy
manifold and great mercy. We are not worthy to gather up the crumbs
under Thy table, but Thou art the same Lord whose property is always to
have mercy."
Let this be a day of thanksgiving, too, and shew your thankfulness by
coming to Holy Communion, and lifting up your voices, once for all, at
that table, and saying:--
"We bless Thee, we praise Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee
for Thy great glory." These are the words for you this day. Oh! do not
turn away. All your distress, all your sorrows have come from your not
having faith in God. Break at once the accursed charm with which the
devil has enchanted you. Have faith enough to come to God's holy table,
and see if God does not reward you by giving you faith enough to conquer
yourselves, and lead new lives like redeemed men in the sunshine of His
smile, henceforth and forever!
My friends, what more can I say, except once and again, Come ye who
labour and are heavy laden, and Christ will give you rest!
Ay, and He will. I speak only what I know--what I have felt. But before
He will give you rest, be you rich or poor, young or old, you must learn
to say those simple words (they are the best and only preparation for
it), "God be merciful to me a sinner." Say them then from your heart,
and so come to the Lord's Supper.