NO. 2982<\/b><\/p>\n
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, APRIL 5TH, 1908,<\/b><\/p>\n
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,<\/i><\/p>\n
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when they had sang an hymn, they went out unto the Mount at Olives.\u201d \u2014 Matthew 26:30.<\/i><\/p>\n
The occasion on which these words were spoken was the last meal of which Jesus partook in company with his disciples before he went from them to his shameful trial, and his ignominious death. It was his farewell supper before a bitter parting, and yet they needs must sing. He was on the brink of that great depth of misery into which he was about to plunge, and yet he would have them sing \u201can hymn.\u201d It is wonderful that HE sang, and in a second degree it is remarkable that They sang. We will consider both these singular facts.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
I. <\/b>Let us dwell a while on The Fact That Jesus Sang At Such A Time As This. What does he teach us by this?<\/p>\n
Does he not say to each of us, his followers, \u201cMy religion is one of happiness and joy;<\/i> I, your Master, by my example, would instruct you to sing even when the last solemn hour is come, and all the glooms of death are gathering around you; here, at the table, I am your Singing-master, and set you lessons in music, in which my dying voice, shall lead you: notwithstanding all the griefs which overwhelm my heart, I will be to you the Chief Musician, and the Sweet Singer of Israel\u2019s life. There was a time when it would have been natural and consistent, with the solemnities of the occasion for the Savior to have bowed his head upon the table, bursting into a flood of tears; or, if ever theirs was a season when he might have fittingly retired from all company, and have bewailed his coming conflict in sighs and groans, it was just then. But no; that brave heart will sing \u201can hymn.\u201d Our glorious Jesus plays the man beyond all other men. Boldest of the sons of men, he quails not in the hour of battle, but tunes his voice to loftiest psalmody. The genius of that Christianity of which Jesus is the Head and Founder, its object, spirit, and design, are happiness and joy, and they who receive it are able to sing in the very jaws of death.<\/p>\n
This remark, however, is quite a secondary one to the next. Our Lord\u2019s complete fulfillment of the law is even more worthy of our attention.<\/i> It was customary, when the Passover was held, to sing, and this is the main reason why the Savior did so. During the Passover, it was usual to sing the hundred and thirteenth, and five following Psalms, which were called the \u201cHallel.\u201d The first commences, you will observe, in our version, with \u201cPraise ye the Lord!\u201d or, \u201cHallelujah!\u201d The hundred and fifteenth, and the three following, were usually sung as the closing song of the Passover. Now, our Savior would not diminish the splendor of the great Jewish rite, although it was the last time that he would celebrate it. No; there shall be their holy beauty and delight of psalmody; none of it shall be stinted; the \u201cHallel\u201d shall be full and complete.<\/p>\n
We may safely believe that the Savior sang through, or probably chanted, the whole of these six Psalms; and my heart tells me that there was no one at the table who sang more devoutly or more cheerfully than did our blessed Lord. There are some parts of the hundred and eighteenth Psalm, especially, which strike us as having sounded singularly grand, as they flowed from his blessed lips. Note verses 22, 23, 24. Particularly observe those words, near the end of the Psalm, and think you hear the Lord himself singing them, \u201cGod is the Lord, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt them. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because, then, it was the settled custom of Israel to recite or sing these Psalms, our Lord Jesus Christ did the same; for he would leave nothing unfinished. Just as, when he went down into the waters of baptism, he said, \u201cThus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness,\u201d so he seemed to say, when sitting at the table, \u201cThus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness; therefore let us sing unto the Lord, as God\u2019s people in past ages have done.\u201d Beloved, let us view with holy wonder the strictness of the Savior\u2019s obedience to his Father\u2019s will, and let us endeavor to follow in his steps, in all things, seeking to be obedient to the Lord\u2019s Word in the little matters as well as in the great ones.<\/p>\n
May we not venture to suggest another and deeper reason? Did not the singing of \u201can hymn\u201d at the supper show the holy absorption of the Savior\u2019s soul in his Father\u2019s will?<\/i> If, beloved, you knew that at–say, ten o\u2019clock tonight, you would be led away to be mocked, and despised, and scourged, and that tomorrow\u2019s sun would see you falsely accused, hanging, a convicted criminal, to die upon a cross, do you think that you could sing tonight, after your last meal? I am sure you could not, unless with more than earth-born courage, and resignation your soul could say, \u201cbind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.\u201d You would sing if your spirit were like the Savior\u2019s spirit; if, like him, you could exclaim, \u201cNot as I will, but as thou wilt;\u201d but if there should remain in you any selfishness, any desire to be spared the bitterness of death, you would not be able to chant the \u201cHallel\u201d with the Master. Blessed Jesus, how wholly wert thou given up! how perfectly consecrated! so that, whereas other men sing when they are marching to their joys, thou didst sing on the way to death, whereas other men lift up their cheerful voices when honor awaits them, thou hadst, as brave, an holy sonnet on thy lips when shame, and spitting, and death were to be thy portion.<\/p>\n
This singing of the Savior also teaches us the whole-heartedness of the Master in the work which he was about to do. The patriot warrior sings as he hastens to battle; to the strains of martial music he advances to meet the foeman; and even thus the heart, of our all-glorious Champion supplies him with song even in the dreadful hour of his solitary agony. He views the battle, but he dreads it not; though in the contest his sons will be \u201cexceeding sorrowful even unto death,\u201d yet before it, he is like Job\u2019s war-horse, \u201che saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off.\u201d He has a baptism to be baptized with, and he is straitened until it be accomplished. The Master does not go forth to the agony in the garden with a cowed and trembling spirit, all bowed and crushed in the dust; but he, advances to the conflict like a man who has his full strength about him \u2014 taken out to be, a victim (if I may use such a figure), not as a worn-out ox that has long borne the yoke, but as the firstling of the bullock, in the fullness of his strength. He goes forth to the slaughter, with his glorious undaunted spirit, fast and firm within him, glad to suffer for his people\u2019s sake, and for his Father\u2019s glory.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor as at first thine all-pervading look
So from thy Father\u2019s bosom to the abyss,
Measuring in calm presage
The infinite descent;<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
So to the end, though now of mortal pangs
Made heir, and emptied of thy glory a while,
With unaverted eye
Thou meetest all the storm.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Let us, O fellow-heirs of salvation, learn to sing when our offering time comes, when our season for stern labor approaches; ay, let us pour forth a canticle of deep, mysterious, melody of bliss, when our dying hour is near at hand! Courage, brother! The waters are chilly; but fear will not by any means diminish the terrors of the river. Courage, brother! Death is solemn work; but playing the coward will not make it less so. Bring out the silver trumpet; let thy lips remember the long-loved music, and let the notes be clear and shrill as thou dippest thy feet in the Jordan: \u201cYea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dear friends, let, the remembrance of the melodies of that upper room go with you tomorrow into business; and if you expect a great trial, and are afraid you will not be able to sing after it, thep sing before it comes. Get your holy praisework done before affliction mars the tune. Fill the air with music while you can. While yet there is bread upon the table, sing, though famine may threaten; while yet the child runs laughing about the house, while yet the flush of health is in your own cheek, while yet your goods are spared, while yet your heart is whole and sound, lift up your song of praise to the Most High God; and let your Master, the singing Savior, be in this you goodly and comfortable example.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
II. <\/b>We will now consider The Singing Of The Disciples. They united in the \u201cHallel\u201d \u2014 like true Jews, they joined in the national song. Israel had good cause to sing at the Passover, for God had wrought for his people what he had done for no other nation on the face of the earth. Every Hebrew must have felt his soul elevated and rejoiced on the Paschal night. He was \u201ca citizen of no mean city\u201d, and the pedigree which he could look back upon was one, compared with which kings and princes were but of yesterday.<\/p>\n
Remembering the fact commemorated by the Paschal supper, Israel might well rejoice. They sang of their nation in bondage, trodden beneath the tyrannical foot of Pharaoh; they began the Psalm right sorrowfully, as they thought of the bricks made without straw, and of the iron furnace; but the strain soon mounted from the deep bass, and began to climb the scale, as they sang of Moses the servant of God, and of the Lord appearing to him in the burning bush. They remembered the mystic rod, which became a serpent, and which swallowed up the rods of the magicians; their music told of the plagues and wonders which God had wrought upon Zoan; and of that dread night when the firstborn of Egypt fell before the avenging sword of the angel of death, while tines, themselves, feeding on the lamb which had been slain for them, and when blood was sprinkled upon the lintel and upon the sideposts of the door, had been graciously preserved. Then the song went up concerning the hour in which all Egypt was humbled at the feet of Jehovah, whilst as far his people, he led them forth like sheep, by the hand of Moses and Aaron, and they went by the way of the sea, even of the Red Sea. The strain rose higher still as they tuned the song of Moses, the servant of God, and of the Lamb. Jubilantly they sang of the Red Sea, and of the chariots of Pharaoh which went down into the midst thereof, and the depths covered them till there was not one of them left. It was a glorious chant indeed when they sang of Rahab cut in pieces, and of the dragon wounded at the sea, to the right hand of the Most High, for the deliverance of the chosen people.<\/p>\n
But, beloved, if I have said that Israel could so properly sing, what shall I say of those of us who are the Lord spiritually redeemed?<\/i> We have been emancipated from a slavery worse than that of Egypt: \u201cwith a high hand and with an outstretched arm,\u201d hath God delivered us. The blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God\u2019s Passover, has been sprinkled on our hearts and consciences. By faith we keep the Passover, for we have been saved; we have been brought out of Egypt; and though our sins did once oppose us, they have all been drowned in the Red Sea if the atoning blood of Jesus: \u201cthe depths have covered them. There is not one of them left.\u201d If the Jew could sing a \u201cgreat Hallel\u201d, our \u201cHallel\u201d ought to be more glowing still; and if every house in \u201cJudaea\u2019s happy land \u201cwas full of music when the people! see the Paschal feast, much more reason have we for filling every heart with sacred harmony tonight, while we feast upon Jesus Christ, who was slain, and has redeemed us so God by his blood. The time has now come for me to say.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
III. <\/b>How Earnestly I Desire You To \u201cSing An Hymn.\u201d<\/p>\n
I do not mean to ask you to use your voices, but let your hearts be brimming with the essence of praise. Whenever we repair to the Lord\u2019s table, which represents to us the Passover, we ought not to come to it as to a funeral. Let us select solemn hymns, but not dirges. Let us sing softly, but none the less joyfully. This is no burial feast; these are not funeral cakes which lie upon this table, and yonder fair white linen cloth is no winding-sheet. \u201cThis is my body,\u201d said Jesus, but the body so represented was no corpse; we feed upon a living Christ. The blood set forth by yonder wine is the fresh life blood of our immortal King. We view not our Lord\u2019s body as clay-cold flesh, pierced with wounds, but as glorified at the right hand of the Father. We hold a happy festival when we break bread on the first day of the week. We come not hither trembling like bondsmen, cringing before the Lord as wretched serfs condemned. So eat on their knees; we approach as freemen to our Lord\u2019s banquet, like his apostles, to recline at length or sit as ease; not merely to eat bread which may belong to the most sorrowful, but to drink wine which belongs to men whose souls are glad. Let us recognize the rightness, yea, the duty of cheerfulness at this commemorative supper; and, therefore, let us sing an hymn.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being satisfied on this point, perhaps you ask, \u201cWhat hymn shall he sing?\u201d<\/i> Many sorts of hymns were sung in the olden time: look down the list, and you will scarcely find one which may not suit us now.<\/p>\n
One of the earliest of earthy things was the war-song<\/i>. They sing of old a song to the conqueror, when he returned from the battle. \u201cSaul has slain his thousand, and David his ten thousands.\u201d Women took their timbrels, and rejoiced in the dare when the hero returned from the war. Even thus, of old, did the people of God extol him for his mighty acts, singing aloud with the highsounding cymbals: \u201cSing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously … The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name. My brethren, let us lift up a war song tonight! Why not? \u201cWho is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.\u201d Come, let us praise our Emmanuel, as we see the head of our foe in his right hand; as we behold him leaving captivity captive, ascending up on high, with trumpet; joyful sound, let us chant the psalm; let us shout the war-song, \u201cIo Triumphe!\u201d Behold, he comes, all glorious from the war: as we gather at this festive table, which reminds us both of his conflict and of his victory, let us salute him with a psalm of gladsome triumph, which shall be but the prelude of the song we expect to sing when we get up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere all the singers meet.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Another early form of song was the pastoral<\/i>. When the shepherds sat down amongst the sheep, they tuned their pipes, and warbled forth soft and sweet airs in harmony with rustic quietude. All around was calm and still; the sun was brightly shining, and the birds were making melody among the leafy branches. Shall I seem fanciful if I say, \u201cLet us unite in a pastoral tonight?\u201d Sitting round the table, why should we not sing, \u201cThe Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters?\u201d If theirs be a place beneath the stars where we might feel perfectly at rest and ease, surely it is at the table of the Lord. Here, then, let us sing to our great Shepherd a pastoral of delight. Let the bleating of sheep be in our ears as we remember the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for his flock.<\/p>\n
You need not to be reminded that the ancients were very fond of festive songs. When they assembled at their great festivals, led by their chosen minstrels, they sang right, joyously, with boisterous mirth. Let those who will speak to the praise of wine, my soul shall extol the precious blood of Jesus; let who will laud corn and oil, the rich produce of the harvest, my heart, shall sing of the Bread which came down from heaven, whereof, if he eateth, he shall never hunger. Speak ye of royal banquets, and minstrelry fit for a monarch\u2019s ear? Ours is a nobler festival, and our song is sweeter far. Here is room at this table tonight for all earth\u2019s poesy and music, for the place deserved songs more lustrous with delight, more sparkling with gems of holy mirth, than any of which the ancients could conceive.<\/p>\n
The love-song<\/i> we must not forget, for that is peculiarly the song of this evening. \u201cNow will I sing unto my Well-beloved a song.\u201d His love to us is an immortal theme; and as our love, fanned by the breath of heaven, bursts into a vehement flame, we may sing, yea, and we will sing among the lilies, a song of loves.<\/p>\n
In the Old Testament, we find many Psalms called by the title, \u201cA Song of Degrees.\u201d<\/i> This \u201cSong of Degrees\u201d is supposed by me to have been sung as the people ascended the temple steps, or made pilgrimages to the holy place. The strain often changes, sometimes it is dolorous, and anon it is gladsome; at one season, the notes are long drawn out and heavy, at another, they are cheerful and jubilant. We will sing a \u201cSong of Degrees\u201d tonight. We will mourn that we pierced the Lord, and we will rejoice in pardon bought with blood. Our strain must vary as we talk of sin, feeling its bitterness, and lamenting it, and then of pardon, rejoicing in its glorious fullness.<\/p>\n
David wrote a considerable number of Psalms which he entitled \u201cMaschil<\/i>\u201d, which may be called in English, \u201cinstructive Psalms.\u201d Where, beloved, can we find richer instruction than at the table of our Lord? He who understands the mystery of incarnation, and of substitution, is a master in Scriptural theology. There is more teaching in the Savior\u2019s body and in the Savior\u2019s blood than in all the world besides. O ye who wish to learn the way to comfort, and how to tread the royal road to heavenly wisdom, come ye to the cross, and see the Savior suffer, and pour out his heart\u2019s blood for human sin!<\/p>\n
Some of David\u2019s Psalms are called, \u201cMichtam<\/i>\u201d, which means \u201cgolden Psalm.\u201d Surely we must sing one of these. Our psalms must be golden when we sing of the Head of the Church, who is as much fine gold. More precious than silver or gold is the inestimable price which he has paid for our ransom. Yes, ye sons of harmony, bring your most melodious anthems here, and let your Savior have your golden psalms!<\/p>\n
Certain Psalms in the Old Testament, are entitled, \u201cUpon Shoshannim<\/i>,\u201d that is, \u201cUpon the lilies.\u201d O ye virgin souls, whose hearts have been washed in blood, and have been made white and pure, bring forth your instruments of song; \u2014 <\/p>\n
\u201cHither, then, your music bring,
Strike aloud each cheerful string!\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Let your hearts, when they are in their best state, when they are purest, and most cleansed from earthly dross, give to Jesus their glory and their excellence.<\/p>\n
Then there are other Psalms which are dedicated \u201cTo the sons of Korah.\u201d<\/i> If the guess be right, the reason why we get the title, \u201cTo the sons of Korah\u201d \u2014 \u201ca song of loves\u201d must be this: that when Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were swallowed up, the sons of Dathan and Abiram were swallowed up, too; but the sons of Korah perished not. Why they were not destroyed, we cannot tell. Perhaps it was that sovereign grace spared those whom justice might have doomed; and \u201cthe sons of Korah\u201d were ever after made the sweet singers of the sanctuary; and whenever there was a special \u201csong of loves\u201d, it was always dedicated to them. Ah! we will have one of those songs of love tonight, around the table, for we, too, are saved by distinguishing grace. We will sing of the heavenly Lover, and the many waters which could not quench his love.<\/p>\n
We have not half exhausted the list, but it is clear that, sitting at the Lord\u2019s table, we shall have no lack of suitable psalmody. Perhaps no one hymn will quite meet the sentiments of all; and while we would not write a hymn for you, we would pray the Holy Spirit to write now the spirit of praise, upon your hearts, that, sitting here, you may \u201cafter supper\u201d sing \u201can hymn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
IV. <\/b>For one or two minutes let us ask, What Shall The Tune Be?<\/p>\n
It must be a strange one, for if we are to sing \u201can hymn tonight, around the table, the tune most have all the parts of music.<\/i> Yonder believer is heavy of heart through manifold sorrows, bereavements, and watchings by the sick. He loves his Lord, and would fain praise him, but his soul refuses to use her wings. Brother, we will have a tune in which you can join, and you shall lead the bass. You shall sing of your fellowship with your Beloved in his sufferings; how he, too, lost a friend; how he spent whole nights in sleeplessness; how his soul was exceedingly sorrowful.<\/p>\n
But the tune must not be all bass, or it would not suit all of us tonight, for we can reach the highest note. We have seen the Lord, and our spirit has rejoiced in God our Savior. We want to lift the chorus high, yea, there are some here who are at times so full of joy that they will want special music written for them. \u201cWhether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell,\u201d said Paul, and so have others said since, when Christ has been with them. Ah! then they have been obliged to mount to the highest notes, to the very loftiest range of song.<\/p>\n
Remember, beloved, that the same Savior, who will accept the joyful shoutings of the strong, will also receive the plaintive notes of the weak and weeping. You little ones, you babes in grace, may cry, \u201cHosanna,\u201d and the King will not silence you; and you strong men, with all your power of faith, may shout, \u201cHallelujah!\u201d and your notes shall be accepted, too.<\/p>\n
Come, then, let us have a tune in which we can all unite; but ah! we cannot make one which will suite the dead, \u2014 the dead, I mean, \u201cin trespasses and sins,\u201d \u2014 and there are some such here. Oh, may God open their mouths, and unloose their tongues; but as for those of us who are alive unto God, let us, as we come to the table, all contribute our own share of the music, and so make up a song of blended harmony, with many parts, one great united song of praise to Jesus our Lord!<\/p>\n
We should not choose a tune for the communion table which is not very soft.<\/i> These are no boisterous themes with which we have to deal when we tarry here. A bleeding Savior, robed in a vesture dyed with blood, \u2014 this is a theme which you must treat with loving gentleness, for everything that is coarse is out of place. While the tune is soft, it must also be sweet<\/i>. Silence, ye doubts; be dumb, ye fears; be hushed, ye cares! Why come ye here? My music must be sweet and soft when I sing of him. But oh! it must also be strong;<\/i> there must be a full swell in my praise. Draw out the stops, and let the organ swell the diapason! In fullness let its roll of thundering harmony go up to heaven; let every note be sounded at its loudest. \u201cPraise ye him upon the cymbals, upon the high-sounding cymbals; upon the harp with a solemn sound.\u201d Soft, sweet, and strong, let the music be.<\/p>\n
Alas! you complain that your soul is out of tune. Then ask the Master to tune the heart-strings. Those \u201cSelahs\u201d which we find so often in the Psalms, are supposed by many scholars to mean, \u201cPut the harp-strings in tune:\u201d truly we require many \u201cSelahs,\u201d for our hearts are constantly unstrung. Oh, that tonight the Master would enable each one of us to offer that tuneful prayer which we so often sing, \u2014 <\/p>\n
\u201cTeach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above:
Frame the mount \u2014 oh, fix me on it,
Mount at God\u2019s unchanging love!\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
V. <\/b>We close by enquiring, who Who Shall Sing This Hymn?<\/p>\n
Sitting around the Father\u2019s beard, we will raise a joyful song, but who shall do it? \u201cI will,\u201d saith one; \u201cand we will,\u201d say others. What is the reason why so many are willing to join? The reason is to be found in the theme we were singing just now, \u2014 <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he\u2019s the subject of the song,
Who can refuse to sing?\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
What! a Christian silent when others are praising his Master? No; he must join in the song. Satan tries to make God\u2019s people dumb, but he cannot, for the Lord has not a tongue-tied child in all his family. They can all speak, and they can all cry, even if they cannot all sing, and I<\/i> think there are times when they can all sing; yea, they must, for you know the promise, \u201cThen shall the tongue of the dumb sing.\u201d Surely, when Jesus leads the tune, if there should be any silent ones in the Lord\u2019s family, they must begin to praise the name of the Lord. After Giant Despair\u2019s head had been cut off, Christians and Mr. Greatheart, and all the rest of them brought out the best of the provisions, and made a feast, and Mr. Bunyan says that, after they had feasted, they danced. In the dance there was one remarkable dancer, namely, Mr. Ready-to-Halt. Now, Mr. Ready-to-Halt usually went upon crutches, but for once he laid them aside. \u201cAnd,\u201d says Bunyan, \u201cI warrant you he footed it well!\u201d This is quaintly showing us that the very sorrowful ones, the Ready-to-Halts, when they see Giant Despair\u2019s head cut off, when they see death, hell, and sin led in triumphant captivity at the wheels of Christ\u2019s victorious chariot, feel that even they must for once indulge in a song of gladness. So, when I put the question tonight, \u201cWho will sing?\u201d I trust that Ready-to-Halt will promise, \u201cI will\u201d<\/p>\n
You have not much comfort at home, perhaps; by very hard work you can earn that little. Sunday is to you a day of true rest, for you are worked very cruelly all the week. Those cheeks of yours, poor girl, are getting very pale and who knows but what Hood\u2019s pathetic line may be true of you?<\/p>\n
\u201cStitch, stitch stitch
In poverty, hunger, and dirt,
Sewing at once, with a double thread,
A shroud as well as a shirt.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
But, my sister, you may surely rejoice tonight in spite of all that there may be little on earth, but there is much in heaven. There may be but small comfort for you here apart from Christ but oh when, by faith, you mount into his glory, your soul is glad. You shall be as rich as the richest tonight if the Holy Spirit shall but bring you to the table, and enable you to feed upon your Lord and Master. Perhaps you have come here tonight when you ought not to have done so. The physician would have told you to keep to your bed, but you persisted in coming up to the house where the Lord has so often met with you. I trust that we shall hear your voice in the song. There appear to have been, in David\u2019s day, many things to silence the praise of God, but David was one who would sing. I like that expression of his, where the devil seems to come up, and put his hand on his mouth, and say, \u201cBe quiet.\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d says David, \u201cI will sing.\u201d Again the devil tries to quiet him, but David is not to be silenced, for three times he puts it, \u201cI will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.\u201d May the Lord make you resolve, this night, that you will praise the Lord Jesus with all your heart!<\/p>\n
Alas! there are many of you here whom I could not invite to this feast of song, and who could not truly come if you were invited. Your sins are not forgiven; your souls are not saved; you have not trusted Christ, you are still in nature\u2019s darkness, still in the gall of bitterness, and in the bonds of iniquity. Must it always be so, Will you destroy yourselves? Have you made a league with death, and a covenant with hell? Mercy lingers! Longsuffering continues! Jesus waits! Remember that he hung upon the cross for sinners such as you are, and that if you believe in him now, you shall be saved. One act of faith, and all the sin you have committed is blotted out. A single glance of faith\u2019s eye to the wounds of the Messiah, and your load of iniquity is rolled into the depths of the sea, and you are forgiven in a moment!<\/p>\n
\u201cOh!\u201d says one, \u201cwould God I could believe!\u201d Poor soul, may God help thee to believe now! God took upon himself our flesh; Christ was born among men, and suffered on account of human guilt, being made to suffer \u201cthe just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.\u201d Christ was punished in the room, place, and stead of every man and woman who will believe on him. If you believe on him, he was punished for you; and you will never be punished. Your debts are paid, your sins are forgiven. God cannot punish you, for he has punished Christ instead of you, and he will never punish twice for one offense. To believe is to trust. If you will now trust your soul entirely with him, you are saved, for he loved you, and gave himself for you. When you know this, and feel it to be true, then come to the Lord\u2019s table, and join with us, when, After Supper We Sing Our Hymn, \u2014 <\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019It is finished!\u2019 \u2014 Oh what pleasure,
Do these charming words afford!
Heavenly blessings without measure
Flow to us from Christ the Lord:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
\u2019It is finished!\u2019
Saints, the dying words record.
\u201cTune your harps anew, ye seraphs,
Join to sing the pleasing theme;
All on earth, and all in heaven,
Join to praise Immanuel\u2019s name;<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Hallelujah!
Story to the bleeding Lamb!\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
HYMNS FROM \u201cOUR OWN HYMN BOOK\u201d \u2014 421, 439, 300<\/b><\/p>\n
EXPOSITIONS BY C. H. SPURGEON.<\/p>\n
MATTHEW 26:20-30; AND 1 CORINTHIANS 11:20-26.<\/b><\/p>\n
Matthew 26:20. Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.<\/i><\/p>\n
Why so many people celebrate the Lord\u2019s supper in the morning, I cannot imagine, unless it be that they desire to do everything contrary to their Lord\u2019s command and example: \u201cWhen the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.\u201d I do not think there is any binding ordinance making the evening the only time for the observance of this ordinance; but to make the morning the only time is certainly not according to the Word of God.<\/p>\n
21, 22. And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, \u2014 <\/i><\/p>\n
There was enough to make them sorrowful in the fact that their Lord had just told them that one of the twelve who were his body-guard, his closest companions, his nearest and dearest friends, would betray him. \u201cThey were exceeding sorrowful,\u201d \u2014 <\/p>\n
22. And began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?<\/i><\/p>\n
It shows a beautiful trait in their character that they did not suspect one another, and least of all, I suppose, did they suspect Judas; but each one asked, \u201cLord, is it I?\u201d It is an admirable way of hearing a sermon to take it home to yourself, especially if there be a rebuke or a caution in it.<\/p>\n
23, 24. And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.<\/i><\/p>\n
The doom of the wicked is something far worse than non-existence, or Christ would not have said, concerning Judas Iscariot, \u201cIt had been good for that man if he had never been born.\u201d This is especially true of all those who, having for a while consorted with Christ, afterwards deny it and betray him. O brothers and sisters, may all of us be kept from this terrible sin! May none of us ever betray our Master after all the fellowship we have had with him! It would be better to die for him than to deny him; and it would be better never to have been born than to have been in intimate association with him, and then to have betrayed him.<\/p>\n
25. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cIt is even so,\u201d With a sorrowful gesture, he made it plain to his sad little circle of friends and followers that he knew all that was going to happen, and that Judas was the man who was going to turn traitor.<\/p>\n
26. And as they were eating, \u2014 <\/i><\/p>\n
As they were eating the Passover. The one ordinance gradually melted into the other: \u201cAs they were eating,\u201d \u2014 <\/p>\n
26, 27. Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cEach one of you, my disciples, take a draught of this cup.\u201d<\/p>\n
28. For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.<\/i><\/p>\n
They had had gross sin brought prominently to their minds; they had had a personal reminder of their own liability to sin; and now they were to have a personal pledge concerning the pardon of sin: \u201cFor this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sin.\u201d<\/p>\n
29. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father\u2019s kingdom.<\/i><\/p>\n
Taking, as it were, the great Nazarite vow never to taste of the fruit of the vine \u201cuntil that day.\u201d He will keep his tryst with us, my brethren; and we shall drink the new vine of his Father\u2019s kingdom with him by-and by; but, until then, he waits.<\/p>\n
30. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.<\/i><\/p>\n
1 Corinthians 11:20. When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord\u2019s supper.<\/i><\/p>\n
Merely meeting together, each person bringing his or her own portion of bread and wine, and each one eating the provided portion, was not celebrating the Lord\u2019s supper.<\/p>\n
21. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.<\/i><\/p>\n
Bad as some professing Christians are even now, they are not so bad as these Corinthians were. One was hungry, and another was drunken, because they had turned the holy feast into a kind of banquet of a most disorderly sort. There was nothing in their conduct to indicate true Christian fellowship. The very meaning of the ordinance was lost in the fact that each one was feasting himself without fear.<\/p>\n
22. What have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.<\/i><\/p>\n
The Lord\u2019s supper is not to be made an opportunity for eating and drinking in disorderly self-enjoyment. It is a hallowed and holy institution, setting forth the fellowship of true believers with one another, and with the Lord Jesus Christ<\/p>\n
Paul was an apostle, yet he had not been present at the institution of the Lord\u2019s supper, so he had a special revelation given to him concerning the way in which this ordinance is to be observed.<\/p>\n
23. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, \u2014 <\/i><\/p>\n
That is the right kind of teaching which a man first receives from God, and then delivers to the people. Nothing is of authority in the Christian ministry unless we can say of it, \u201cI have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you,\u201d \u2014 <\/p>\n
23. That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread; \u2014 <\/i><\/p>\n
What a pathetic interest is given to the Lord\u2019s supper by the fact that it was instituted \u201cthe same night in which he was betrayed.\u201d Never forget that God grant that none of us may betray our Lord this night, or any other night! It would be the darkest night in our life should it ever be so: \u201cThe Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread;\u201d \u2014 <\/p>\n
24, 25. And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament \u2014 <\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cThe New Covenant\u201d \u2014 <\/p>\n
26, 26. In my blood: this do ye as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord death till he come.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NO. 2982 A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, APRIL 5TH, 1908, DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. \u201cAnd when they had sang an hymn, they went out unto the Mount at Olives.\u201d \u2014 Matthew 26:30. The occasion on which these words were spoken was the last meal of which Jesus partook in … Continue reading “THE MEMORABLE HYMN.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4310\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}