Now, do you know that you have not you know that you are unconverted? there and take the bread and wine? Do come to Christ ? Thou art not lying to a man but unto God. Perhaps there is one among you who is secretly addicted to drinking, to swearing, to uncleanness. Will you come and take the bread and wine ? Take heed, Ananias! Perhaps there are two of you, husband and wife, who know that neither of you were ever converted. You never pray together, and yet you agree together to come here. heed, Ananias and Sapphira! Take Suppose a father, Is there none of you a persecutor? whose children have come to Christ, but in your heart you hate their change; you oppose it with bitter words; and yet, with a smooth countenance, you come to sit beside them at the same table! O, hypocrite, take heed lest you drop down dead! Draw back that hand lest it wither! If we should see the cup drop from your hand, and the eye glaze, and the feet become cold, Oh! where would your soul be? 66 Dear children of God, do not be discouraged from coming to this holy table. It is spread for sinners that have come to Jesus. 66 O, come and dine." Some of you say, "I do not know the way to this table." Jesus says, I am the way." Some of you say, "I am blind -I cannot see my sins, nor my Saviour.' Go wash in the pool of Siloam. Some of you say, 'I am naked." Jesus says, I counsel thee to buy of me white raiment that thou mayest be clothed." You are polluted in your own blood; but has Jesus thrown his skirt over you? Then, do not fear; come with his robe on you. Come thus, and you come welcome. 3. TABLE SERVICE. (The only specimen of his Table Services, found in his own hand writing, but without date.) 66 66 My beloved is mine, and 1 am his." 1. In the arms of my faith he is mine." I was once of the world-cold and careless about my soul. God awakened me, and made me feel I was lost. I tried to make myself good-to mend my life; but I found it in vain. I sat down more lost than before. I.was then told to believe on the Lord Jesus. So I tried to make myself believe. I read books on faith, and tried to bend my soul to believe, that so I might get to heaven; Ee but still in vain. I found it written, "Faith is the gift of God." "No man can call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." So I sat down more lost than ever. Whilst I was thus helpless, Jesus drew near— -his garments dipped in blood. He had waited long at my door, though I knew it not. "His head was filled with dew, and his locks with the drops of the night." He had five deep wounds; and he said, “I died in the stead of sinners; and any sinner may have me for a Saviour. You are a helpless sinner, will you have me?" How can I resist him!-he is all I need! "I held him, and would not let him go." My beloved is mine." Once I did not 2. In the arms of my love, he is mine. know what people meant by loving Jesus. I always wished to ask how they could love one whom they had never seen, but was answered, "whom not having seen, we love." But now that I have hidden in him-now that I am cleaving to him -now I feel that I cannot but love him; and I long to see him that I may love him more. Many a time I fall into sin, and that takes away my feeling of safety in Christ. Darkness comes, all is clouded, Christ is away. Still even then I am sick of love. Christ is not light and peace to me; but I follow hard after him amid the darkness-he is precious tɔ me; and even, though I be in darkness, he is my beloved still." "This is my beloved, and this is my friend." 3. He is mine in the Sacrament.-Many a time have I said to him in prayer, Thou art mine.. Many a time when the doors were shut, and Jesus came in showing his wounds, saying, "Peace be unto you," my soul clave to him, and said, My Lord and my God!" My beloved, thou art mine! Many a time have I trysted with him in lonely places, where there was no eye of man. Many a time have I called to the rocks and trees to witness that I took him to be my Saviour. He said to me, "I will betrothe thee unto me for ever;" and I said to him, " My beloved is mine." Many a time have I gone with some Christian friend, and we poured out our trembling hearts together-consulting one with another as to whether we had liberty to close with Christ or no, and both together we came to this conclusion, that if we were but helpless sinners we had a right to close with the Saviour of sinners. We clave to him, and called him ours. And now have we come to take him publicly, to call an ungodly world to witness, to call heaven and earth for a record to our soul, that we do close with Christ. See he giveth himself to us in the bread; lo! we accept of him in accepting this bread. Bear witness, men and angels, bear witness, all the universe-" My beloved is mine." (The communicants then partook of the broken bread and the cup of blessing.) (It was his custom, after they had communicated, to speak briefly on a few suitable texts, before dismissing them from the tables. On Sabbath, January 19, the texts were—“ Love one another;" "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it;"" In the world ye shall have tribulation, but in me ye shall have peace.") 4. ADDRESS AT THE CLOse of the DAY. "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy."-JUDE 24. There is no end to a pastor's anxieties. Our first care is to get you into Christ; and next, to keep you from falling. I have a good hope, dearly beloved, that a goodly number of you have this day joined yourselves to the Lord. But now a new anxiety begins, to get you to walk in Christ—to walk after the Spirit. Here we are to tell you of what God our Saviour is able to do for yon: 1st, To keep you from falling all the way; 2d, To present you faultless at the end. I. To keep you from falling. 1. We are not able to keep you from falling. Those that lean on ministers lean on a reed shaken with the wind. When a soul has received saving good through a minister, he often thinks that he will be kept from falling by the same means. He thinks, "O if I had this friend always beside me to warn me, to advise me." No; ministers are not always by, nor godly friends. Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? We may soon be taken from you, and there may come a famine of the bread. And, besides, our words will not always tell. When temptation and passions are strong, you would not give heed to us. 2. You are not able to keep yourselves from falling. At present you know little of the weakness or wickedness of your own heart. There is nothing more deceitful than your estimate of your own strength. O if you saw your soul in all its infirmity; if you saw how every sin has its fountain in your heart; if you saw what a mere reed you are, you would сту, Lord hold up my goings." You may be at present strong, but stop till an inviting company occur; stop till a secret opportunity. O how many have fallen then! At present you feel strong-your feet like hind's feet. So did Peter at the Lord's Table. But stop till this burst of feeling has passed away; stop till you are asked to join in some unholy game; stop till some secret opportunity of sinning all unseen-till some bitter provocation rouses your anger-and you will find that you are weak as water, and that there is no sin that you may not fall into. 3. Our Saviour-God is able.-Christ deals with us as you do with your children; they cannot go alone. You hold them so does Christ by his Spirit. "I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms." Hosea xi. 3. Breathe this prayer-" Lord, take me by the arms." John Newton says, When a mother is teaching her child to walk on a soft carpet, she will sometimes let it go, and it will fall, to teach it its weakness; but not so on the brink of a precipice So the Lord will sometimes let you fall, like Peter on the waters, though not to your injury. The shepherd layeth the sheep on his shoulder; it matters not how great the distance be-it matters not how high the mountains, how rough the path; our Saviour-God is an Almighty Shepherd. Some of you have mountains in your way to heaven-some of you have mountains of lusts in your hearts, and some of you have mountains of opposition it matters not, only lie on the shoulder. He is able to keep you; even in the dark valley he will not stumble. II. To present you faultless. 1. Faultless in Righteousness.-As long as you live in your mortal body, you will be faulty in yourself. It is a soul-ruining error to believe anything else. O if ye would be wise, be often looking beneath the robe of the Redeemer's righteousness to see your own deformity. It will make you keep faster hold of his robe, and keep you washing in the fountain. Now, when Christ brings you before the throne of God, he will clothe you with his own fine linen, and present you faultless. O it is sweet to me to think how soon you shall be the righteousness of God in him. What a glorious righteousness that can stand the light of God's face! Sometimes a garment appears white in dim light: when you bring it into the sunshine you see the spots. O prize, then, this Divine righteousness, which is your covering. 2. Faultless in holiness.-My heart sometimes sickens when I think upon the defects of believers; when I think of one Christian being fond of company, another vain, another given to evil speaking. O aim to be holy Christians-bright, shining Christians. The heaven is more adorned by the large bright constellations than by many insignificant stars so God may be more glorified by one bright Christian than by many indifferent ones. Aim at being that one. Soon we shall be faultless. He that begun will perform it. We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. When you lay down this body, you may say-Farewell lust for ever -farewell my hateful pride-farewell hateful selfishnessfarewell strife and envying-farewell being ashamed of Christ. O this makes death sweet indeed. O long to depart and to be with Christ. III. To him be glory. 1. O if anything has been done for your soul, give him the glory. Give no praise to others; give all praise to him. 2. And give him the dominion too. Yield yourselves unto him, soul and body. SERMON XXIV. THE VOICE OF MY BELOVED.* "The voice of my beloved! behold. he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; the fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines; for our vines have tender grapes. My beloved is mine, and I am his; he feedeth among the lilies. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved and be thou like a roe, or a young hart, upon the mountains of Bether."-SONG OF SOLOMON, ii. 8-17. There is no book of the Bible which affords a better test of the depth of a man's Christianity than the Song of Solomon. (1.) If a man's religion be all in his head—a well set form of doctrines, built like mason work, stone above stone-but exercising no influence upon his heart, this book cannot but offend him; for there are no stiff statements of doctrine here *August 14. 1836, when he preached as candidate the first day he preached in St Peter's. |