How Times Have Changed

From Spurgeon's Morning & Evening, to one type of person he says:

"These words may answer your scruples, devout reader, concerning the ordinances. Perhaps you say, “I should be afraid to be baptized; it is such a solemn thing to avow myself to be dead with Christ, and buried with him. I should not feel at liberty to come to the Master’s table; I should be afraid of eating and drinking damnation unto myself, not discerning the Lord’s body.”

And to another type of person he says:

"You think, poor seeker, that you are not allowed to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; if you are permitted to get inside Christ’s door, or sit at the bottom of his table, you will be well content. Ah! but you shall not have less privileges than the very greatest. "

Both very humble expectations of the readers. As I read this I thought how different his audience is today; how different I am. Today, the average Christian wouldn't feel unworthy to be Baptized, but would rather spend time questioning the various methods of baptism, or question the church performing the baptism. Rather than run with desperate and humble knowledge of his sin to be baptized, he would spend a few years thinking about baptism because maybe it's all just meaningless ritual. The LAST thing on our minds today is our unworthiness because after all, the sun rises and sets on my comfort, how I feel, and what is owed to me.

Do I feel as if I am not allowed to rejoice with "joy unspeakable"? Do I think I would be content enough to sit at the bottom of His table?

No.

I believe I have rights, and those rights extend to worship. I have the right the worship to the kind of music I like. I have the right to participate in sacraments, or not to. I have the right to attend the church I like, after I've perused all the channels and found the one that fits me, with the right looking people who say the right things and do the right things (based on my criteria of course).

Spurgeon's reader is vastly different from the readers of his lifetime. We are spoiled. God used Spurgeon to reveal this about me this morning.

Spurgeon also says:

"When the Holy Ghost has given you to feel the spirit of adoption, you may come to Christian ordinances without fear."

Come without fear. And in case we have forgotten, come humbly.