Now, my friends, if any of you say that, do you not say first what is not true? and next do you not know that it is not true?
First, It is not true that by doing wrong you hurt no one but yourself.
Every wrong thing which any man does, every wrong way into which he runs, is certain sooner or later to hurt his neighbours. The worse man a man is, the worse for those who have to do with him. You know it is your own case. You know that bad people hurt you, and make you unhappy; and that good people do you good and make you happy. You know that bad example does you harm and good example does you good. Think for yourselves--use your own common sense. Recollect what you know, what has happened to you again and again. You know that if any one uses bad language before you, you are tempted to use bad language too. If any one quarrels with you, you are tempted to quarrel with him. You know that if parents do wrong things before their children, the children learn to copy them. It is nonsense to talk of a man keeping his sins to himself. No man does, and no man can. Out of the abundance of a man"s heart his mouth speaks; and a bad tree will bring forth bad fruit. If there are bad thoughts in your head, they will come out in bad words. If there are bad tempers in your heart, they will come out in bad and unkind and dishonest actions. You may as well try to keep in fire, as to keep in sin. It will break out, and it will burn whatever it touches. And if you, or I, or any one does wrong in any thing, we shall surely hurt some one or other by it. If you, or I, or any one is worse than he ought to be, we shall make the parish we live in worse than it ought to be. You know that it is so. Who made you different from the rest of the world? If any body else"s sins are harmful, who will make your sins harmless? Not the devil, for he wishes to see as much harm done as possible. And not G.o.d, for He will not be so cruel as to let your sin prosper and go unpunished, as it would if it did not make people hate it, by feeling the bad effects of it.
My good friends, if you by doing wrong hurt other people, and make other people unhappy, are you doing Christ"s work or the devil"s? Are you fighting for Christ, who wishes to make all good, or for the devil, who wishes to make all bad? Are you Christ"s faithful soldier and servant, or are you a traitor to Christ who has gone over to the devil"s side, and is helping the devil to make this poor world (which is bad enough already) worse than it is?
Oh, think of this now, while you have time before you. Remember all that Christ has done for you, and remember that all He asks of you in return is to do for Him nothing but good, which is good for you as well as for your neighbours. The devil"s wages now are shame, discontent, unhappiness, perhaps poverty, perhaps sickness, certainly punishment as traitors to Christ after we die. Christ"s wages are love, joy, peace, the answer of a good conscience, the respect and love of all good men, as long as we live, and after death, life everlasting. Choose; will you be traitors or deserters, and serve the worst of all masters, the King of h.e.l.l, or be honest, honourable, and brave men, and serve the best of all masters, the King of Heaven, the Lord of Life, and love, and goodness without bound, whose ways are ways of pleasantness, and all His paths are peace?
XXIV. HOLY COMMUNION; CHRIST AND THE SINNER.
"Have mercy upon, me, O G.o.d, according to thy loving-kindness; according unto the mult.i.tude 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 G.o.d are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O G.o.d, 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 h.e.l.l hereafter, or from this miserable sinful life, nearly as bad as h.e.l.l 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 G.o.d 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 l.u.s.tfulness_. _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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d"s wrath is revealed against me_, _that h.e.l.l is open for me_!"
For that very reason, come to the Holy Sacrament, and thou shalt hear there that not h.e.l.l 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 G.o.d to pardon and deliver you from all for Christ"s sake. You will hear him read G.o.d"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 G.o.d_, _as the Prayer-book says to plague me with divers diseases and sundry kinds of death_."
My Friend, if G.o.d 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 G.o.d"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 G.o.d"s strength, G.o.d"s righteousness, G.o.d"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 G.o.d"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 G.o.d, 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, G.o.d 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 G.o.d. Break at once the accursed charm with which the devil has enchanted you. Have faith enough to come to G.o.d"s holy table, and see if G.o.d 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), "G.o.d be merciful to me a sinner." Say them then from your heart, and so come to the Lord"s Supper.
A PRAYER.
"O G.o.d and Saviour, Thou hast blest me, and I have cursed myself. Thou didst die to deliver me from the curse of sin, and I have brought it back on myself by my own folly. Thou livest for ever to make me _good_, and I, ungrateful and foolish, have made myself _bad_. In spite of my ingrat.i.tude, in spite of my folly, take me back into Thy service. I trust utterly in Thy unchangeable goodness and mercy. I trust that Thy blood will still wash away the past, that Thy spirit will still give me a clean heart and a right spirit. I believe that though I have cursed myself, yet Thou wilt still bless me; for Thou wiliest nought but the good of every creature Thou hast made. G.o.d be merciful to me a sinner!"
Amen.
PART II.
I. BRAVE WORDS FOR BRAVE SOLDIERS AND SAILORS. {199}
My friends,--I speak to you simply as brave men. I speak alike to Roman Catholic and Protestant. I speak alike to G.o.dly men and unG.o.dly. I speak alike to soldiers and sailors. . . . If you are _brave_, read these words. I call these _brave_ words. They are not my _own_ words, or my own message, but the message to you of the bravest man who ever lived, or who ever will live, and if you will read them and think over them, He will not _make_ you brave (for that, thank G.o.d, you are already), but _keep_ you brave, come victory or defeat. I speak to the brave men who have now fought three b.l.o.o.d.y battles, and fought them like heroes. All England has blessed you, and admired you; all England has felt for you in a way that would do your hearts good to see. For you know as well as I, that nothing is so comforting, nothing so endearing, as sympathy, as _to know that people feel for one_. If one knows that, one can dare and do anything. If one feels that n.o.body cares for one"s suffering or one"s success, one is ready to lie down and die. It is so with a horse or a dog even. If there is any n.o.ble spirit in them, a word of encouragement will make them go till they drop. How much more will the spirit of a _man_? I can well believe that the Queen"s beautiful letter put more heart into you, than the hope of all the prize money in the world would have done; and that with the words of that letter ringing in your ears, you will prove true to the last, to the words of the grand old song--
"Hearts of oak are our ships, hearts of oak are our men, And we"ll fight, and we"ll conquer again, and again."
But, my friends, you know as well as I, that there are times when neither that letter, nor the feeling of duty, nor of honour, nor of glory, can keep your hearts from sinking. Not in battle! No. Only cowards" hearts fail them there; and there are no cowards among you. But even a brave man"s heart may fail him at whiles, when, instead of the enemy"s b.a.l.l.s and bayonets, he has to face delay, and disappointment, and fatigue, and sickness, and hunger, and cold, and nakedness; as you have, my brave brothers, and faced them as well as man ever did on earth. Ah! it must be fearful work to _sit still_, and shiver and starve in a foreign land, and to think of those who are in comfort and plenty at home; and worse, to think of those, who, even if they are in plenty, cannot be in comfort, because their hearts are breaking for your sake; to think of brother and sister, wife and child, while you are pacing up and down those dreary trenches, waiting for your turn of sickness, perhaps of death. It must be bitter and disheartening at times; you would not be men, if it was not. One minute, perhaps, you remember that those whom you have left at home, love you and pray for you; and that cheers you; then you remember that all England loves you, and prays for you in every church throughout the land; and that cheers you; but even that is not enough, you feel ready to say, "What is the use of my going through all this misery? Why am I not at home ploughing the ground, or keeping a shop, anything rather than throwing away my life by inches thus. My people at home feel for me, but they cannot know, they never will know, the half of what I have gone through. The nation will provide for me if I am crippled, but they cannot make up to me for losing the best years of my life in such work as this; and, if I am killed, can they make up to me for that? Who can make up to me for my life?"
Have you not had such thoughts, my friends, and sadder thoughts still lately? You need not be ashamed of them if you have. For hard work you have had, and it must have told at times on your spirits as heavily as it has on your bodies.
But, my friends, there is an answer for these sad thoughts. There are brave words for you, and a n.o.ble message from G.o.d, which will cheer you when nothing else can cheer you. If your own people cannot know all that you go through, there is One who can and does; if your own wives and mothers cannot feel enough for you, there is One above who does, and He is the Lord Jesus Christ. You have hungered; so has He. You have been weary; so has He. You have felt cold and nakedness; so has He. You have been houseless and sleepless, so has He. While the foxes had holes, and the birds of the air had nests, He, the maker of them all, had not where to lay His head. You have felt the misery of loneliness and desolation; but never so much as did He, when not only every earthly friend forsook Him and fled, but He cried out in His very death pangs, "My G.o.d, my G.o.d, why hast Thou forsaken me?"
Above all, you have felt how difficult it was to die, not fighting sword in hand, but slowly and idly, and helplessly, by cholera or fever, hunger or cold. Terrible it is; but the Lord Jesus Christ has felt that too.
For three years He looked death in the face--a death of shame and misery such as you can never die--and faced it, and gave Himself up to it of His own free will; and though He had the most horrible fear of it to the very last, He determined to submit to it, in spite of His own fear of it; and He did submit to it, and died, and so _showed_, _even in His very fear_, _the most perfect and glorious courage_. So if any one of you has ever felt for a single moment _afraid_; even in _that_, the Lord Jesus Christ can feel for you; for He, too, has gone through the agony of fear, when His sweat was as great drops of blood falling to the ground, that He might be able to help you, and every man that is tempted, because He can be touched with the feeling of your infirmities, having gone through every temptation which flesh is heir to, and conquered them all.
This, then, is one half (and only one half) of my good news; that you have a Friend in heaven who feels for every trouble of yours, better than your own mothers can feel for you, because He has been through it all already; you have a Friend in heaven who is praying for you day and night, more earnestly, lovingly, wisely, than your own wives and children are praying for you. But that is not all. G.o.d forbid! You have a Friend in heaven, for whose sake G.o.d will forgive you all your sins and weaknesses, as often as you heartily confess them to Him, and trust in Him for a full and free pardon. You have a Friend in heaven who will help you day by day, where you most need help, in your hearts and spirits; who will give you, if you ask Him, _His Spirit_, the same spirit of duty, courage, endurance, love, self-sacrifice, which made Him brave to endure ten thousand times more than any soldier or sailor can endure, for the sake of doing His Father"s will, and saving a ruined world.