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Following is an excerpt of "The Joy of Forgiveness" by J. Gerald Harris added on 10/07/2009.
The Joy of Forgiveness
Dr. Gerald Harris
Psalm 32

As we come tonight to observe the Lord's supper I want to remind you that it is the policy of this church not to dictate who can participate in the Lord's supper and who cannot participate in the Lord's supper. That is a matter for each of you to decide. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 11:28, "Let each man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup, for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself. Not discerning the Lord's body."

Now, we do not observe the Lord's supper so that some may be eliminated from participation or banned or restricted or shut out. We observe the Lord's Supper with the hope and with the prayer that everyone may be able to participate with the longing that everyone might be included.
Now, I will say this- it is for family members only. Now just members of the Colonial Heights family, but or those who are members of the family of God. It is for Christians. It is for believers. It is for those who have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Now, if you are here tonight and you have not been saved, before we partake of the Lord's supper I am going to give an invitation. I'm going to give you an opportunity to trust Christ as your personal Savior. I'm going to give you an opportunity to make your public profession of faith in Him and be saved.

I also believe this- I believe that Christians who participate should have clean hearts and pure hands. If you are a believer, but you have some unconfessed and unrepented sin in your life, I believe you need to deal with that before you come to the Lord's table. I believe you need to confess your sin to God and you need to come as a forgiven, cleansed believer who stands before God clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

In Psalm 32, we have a classic picture of David's forgiveness and the consequent joy and blessedness which became his portion. The first thing that we notice in Psalm 32 is:

I. The curse of sin

In verses 3 and 4 we have a description of David's misery when he was steeped in sin, when he refused to acknowledge his sin to himself and to God. There was a time after David had fallen into the grievous sins of adultery and murder that he bluffed his way through life. He played the part of the hypocrite. He sought daily to convince himself and all of his neighbors that all was well.

There was no confession. There was no repentance. There was no acknowledgement of his sin. In verse 3 he says, "when I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long." Night after night he could hear voices in his inner soul accusing him of ...

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