Well, now, we say that when Christ comes into the ordinance of the
Lord’s Supper, or any other ordinance, straightway our graces are
vigorous. How often have we resolved that we would live nearer to
Christ! Yet, though awe have resolved, and re-resolved, I fear it has all
ended with resolving. Peradventure we have prayed over our
resolutions, and for a little season we have sought it very earnestly, but
our earnestness soon expired, like every other fire that is of human
kindling, and we made but little progress. Be not disheartened, my
beloved in the Lord: I tell thee, whether thou art able to believe it or
not, that if thy heart be this night cold as the centre of an iceberg, yet
if Christ shall come to thee, thy soul shall be as coals of juniper, that
have a most vehement flame. Though to thy own apprehension thou
seemest to be dead as the bones in a cemetery, yet if Jesus come to
thee, thou shalt forthwith be as full of life as the seraphs who are as
flames of fire. Why think you he will not come to you? Do you not
remember how he did melt you when first he manifested himself to
your soul? You were as vile then as you are now; you were certainly as
ruined then as you are now; you had no more to merit his esteem then
than you have now; you were as far off from him then as you are now–
I might say even further off. But lo! he came to you when you did not
seek him; he came in the sovereignty of his grace and the sweetness of
his mercy when you despised him. Wherefore, then, should he not
come to you now? Oh! breathe the prayer, tenderly and hopefully
breathe the prayer, “Draw me,” and you will soon find power to run,
and when all your passions and powers are fled, the King will speedily
bring you into his chamber. Dark as your present state may be, there
are sure signs of breaking day. I want you, brethren, to believe and to
expect that you shall hold this night with Christ the richest, sweetest
fellowship that ever mortal was privileged to enjoy, and that of a
sudden. I know your cares–forget them. I know your sins–bring them
to his feet. I know the wandering of your heart–ask him to tether you
to his cross with the same cords that bound him to the pillar of his
flagellation. I know your brain is perplexed, and your thoughts flying
hither and thither, distracted with many cares–put on the thorn-crown,
and let that be the antidote of all your manifold disquietudes. Methinks
Jesus is putting in his hand by the hole of the door. Are not your
bowels moved for him? Rise up and welcome him; and as the bread is
broken, and the wine is passed round, come, and eat and drink of him,
and be not strange to him. “Let not conscience make you linger”; let
not doubts and fears hold you back from fellowship with him who
loved you or ever the earth was, but do rest your unworthy head upon
his blessed bosom, and talk with him, even though the only word you
may be able to say may be, “Lord, is it I?” Do seek fellowship with
him, as one who ignores every thought, feeling, or fact besides. So
may it please him to manifest himself to you and to me as he doth not
to the world.
If you that have never had fellowship with Christ think I am talking
nonsense, I do not marvel. But let me tell you, if you had ever known what
fellowship with Christ means, you would pawn your eyes, and barter your
right arms, and give your estates away as trifles for the priceless favour.
Princes would sell their crowns, and peers would renounce their dignities,
to have five minutes’ fellowship with Christ. I will vouch for that. Why, I
have had more joy in my Lord and Master in the space of the ticking of a
clock than could be crammed into a lifetime of sensual delights, of the
pleasures of taste, of the fascinations of literature. There is a depth, a
matchless depth, in Jesu’s love. There is a luscious sweetness in the
fellowship with him. You must eat, or you will never know the flavour of
it. Oh! taste and see that the Lord is good! Behold how ready he still is
to welcome sinners. Trust him and live. Feed on him, and grow strong.
Commune with him, and be happy. May every one of you who shall sit at the
table have the nearest approach to Jesus that you ever had! Like two
streams that, after flowing side by side, at length unite, so may Christ
and our soul melt into one, even as Isis melts into Thames, till only one
life shall flow, so that the life we live in the flesh shall be no more
ours, but Christ that liveth in us. Amen.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
