THE


LORD'S SUPPER.
BY REV. SAMUEL LUOKEY, D.D.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION,
BY REV. BISHOP JANES.
"For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do
stlow the Lord's death till he come."-1 CoR. xi, 26.
NEW   YORK:
PHILLIPS & HUNT.
CINCINNATI:
WALDEN & STOWE.





Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859,
BY CAILTON         & PORTER,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern
District of New-York.





INTRODUCTION.


I HAVE examined the plan of this
work, and partially its execution. In
my judgment it is an excellent book,
published very opportunely. Its title
sufficiently indicates its object and its
scope. It does not claim to be an
elaborate, or scholastic, or controversial presentation of the subject. It
is a plain, practical, spiritual treatise
on the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. It might have been appropri.





iv


INTRODUCTION.


ately styled  "The Communicant's
Assistant," or, "The Communicant's
Manual."   It aims to guide, and encourage, and aid the Christian in a
proper and profitable observance of
this holy sacrament, a duty by many
members of the Church but imperfectly understood, by some wholly
neglected, and by others observed
with but little profit. We think no
one desirous of understanding the
nature, object, and obligation of this
sacrament, can read this little volume
without much benefit. Its wide circulation, by promoting intelligent
and devout observance of this divine





INTRODUCTION.


V


institution, must advance the faith,
and spirituality, and steadfastness of
the Church.     The book     also sets
forth the necessity of Church membership, as a logical inference from
the Scriptural and sacred duty of all
believers to observe this sacrament.
This topic is amplified, and illustrated,
and urged in a forcible and felicitous
manner.    Nothing   could   be more
timely than the discussion of this
subject.  The    pastoral spirit  and
clear manner in which this duty is
set forth and enforced in this work
can hardly fail to determine any vacillating person who will candidly and





VI          INTRODUCTION.
prayerfully read it, to unite himself
to the visible Church of Christ. I
cheerfully commend the book to the
Christian public, and anticipate much
good from its publication.
E. S. JAEEs.
NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 1859.





PREFACE.
SOME of the reasons for publishing at this time
a treatise on the Sacrament of the LORD'S SUPPER
are the following: The institution is of divine
appointment, and calculated above all others to
strengthen the faith of those who observe it in a
right manner, and to promote their growth in
grace. It embraces all the fundamental doctrines
of the Gospel essentially connected with that of
the ATONEMENT, which are presented to the
humble recipient of the ordinance in a way to
make the most favorable impression upon his
mind and heart, and to kindle in his bosom the
flame of devotion. It is God's own institution,
in which he has promised to meet with his people, to renew his covenant of -mercy and grace
with them, and to edify and strengthen them in
the divine life. As a means of grace eminently
adapted to advance believers in piety and holi.





4;


PREFACE.


ness, the primitive disciples of Christ devoutly
observed it as a part, and the principal part, of
their service every time they met for worship;
and no violence on the part of their enemies, not
even the terrors of martyrdom, could induce
them to neglect it. But it is not so now. Many
members of churches make it a matter of mere
convenience, rather than of principle and duty,
whether they observe the ordinance or not. It
evidently has so slight a hold upon the consciences and feelings of the masses of Church
members in general, that the moral power it was
designed to exert, and did exert in primitive
times, is realized to only a very small extent, if
realized at all, in edifying the body of Christ.
And in addition to all this, since the commencement of the great revival which has spread over
the country, many who have by means of it been
brought to a knowledge of God have not connected themselves with any Church, and seem to
have settled down in the opinion that they can
serve God as acceptably, and be as useful in promoting the cause of Christ, in neglect of the ordinances which he has commanded all his followers to observe, as by observing them. Thus





PREFACE.


5


remaining outside of the fold, as lonely sheep in
the wilderness, they are exposed to be seized and
carried away by false shepherds who roam
through the land, "and come not but to steal,
and to kill, and to destroy."  These unsuspecting
wanderers, who disregard the voice of the good
Shepherd, and refuse or neglect to come into the
fold at his bidding, need instruction and admonition to rescue them from the dangers to which
they are exposed. These reasons, with others
which might be named, have induced a desire
that a treatise on this subject might be published
adapted to the wants of the Church and the public at this juncture of time.
The immediate cause of my undertaking thlis
work was, that I was officially requested by the
"Ministers' Association" of the Wyoming district to preach a sermon before that body on the
subject of the Sacrament. Not being able, on
account of necessary absence, to comply with
their request, it was repeated at a subsequent
meeting. Being thus led to turn my attention
particularly to an investigation of the subject, I
was more deeply impressed than ever before with
the importance of it; and the materials which,





6


PREFACE.


by a cursory view, seemed easily wrought into a
sermon of ordinary length, have grown into a
volume. Sure I am, if the subject shall take as
deep a hold, and make as strong an impression
upon the reader's feelings and upon his soul,
while perusing the work, as it did upon mine
while writing it, he will profit by it. I only
wonder that I never before appreciated this ordinance as I was led to do while investigating it.
That the reader, in perusing this unpretending
little volume, may be benefited in like manner,
is my most sincere and ardent prayer.
As to the style of the work I have no care to
say anything. I have endeavored to express my
thoughts in the plainest manner, so as to be
understood by all. If I have succeeded in this
I shall be satisfied. And if the work shall prove
a blessing to any, in stirring them up to duty,
and advancing them in piety and holiness, it
will be more than a compensation for all my
study and labor. God grant that it may!
S. LUCKEY.
EAST GAINESVILLE,
September, 1858.





CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
THE INSTITUTION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER............  9
CHAPTER II.
THE SIMPLICITY OF MANNER IN WHICH THE LORD'S
SUPPER WAS INSTITUTED...................... 17
CHAPTER III.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ORDINANCE, AS INDICATED
BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH ATTENDED THE INSTITUTION OF IT, AND IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED IT. 23
CHAPTER IV.
THE LORD'S SUPPER CONSIDERED AS A MEMORIAL... 34
CHAPTER V.
THE LORD'S SUPPER CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.... 65
CHAPTER VI.
THE LORD'S SUPPER CONSIDERED AS A EUCHARIST... 95
CHAPTER VII.
THE LORD'S SUPPER CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.. 102
CHAPTER VIII.
THE LORD'S SUPPER CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT... 171
PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS...........................  229










THE


LORD'S              SUPPER.
CHAPTER I.
THE INSTITUTION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER.
And as they were eating, 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; for this is my blood of the New Testament,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 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's kingdom. And when they had sung a
hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives.-Matt.
xxvi, 26-30.
And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and
brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this
is my body. And he took the cup, and when he hadgiven thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank
of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the
New Testament, which is shed for many. Verily I say
unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine,
until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of
God. And when they had sung an hymn, they went
out into the mount of Olives.-Mark xiv, 22-26.





10           THE LORD'S SUPPER.
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and
gave unto them, saying, This is my body, which is
given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is tha
New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you.--
Luke xxii, 19-20.
For I have received of the Lord, that which also I delivered
unto you, That the Lord Jesus, the same night in which
he was betrayed, took bread: and, when he had given
thanks, he brake 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 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 show the Lord's death
till he come.-1 Cor. xi, 23-26.
A PERPETUAL observance of the Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper was enjoined by Christ upon his
disciples under circumstances calculated to make
a deep and abiding impression on the minds and
hearts of all who respect his commandments.
The institution of the ordinance, and the command to observe it, are set forth in the portions
of Scripture I have quoted above; and our duty
respecting it is to be deduced from     a careful
examination of the acts of the Saviour in instituting it, the circumstances under which he per.
formed those acts, and the terms employed by
him to explain their import and design.





ITS INSTITUTION.


11


Let us consider for a moment the time and
place chosen by the Master for the institution of
this ordinance. It was at his last celebration of
the Jewish Passover, which was instituted and
observed in commemoration of the deliverance of
God's chosen people from Egyptian bondage, and
typical of " the Lamb of God which taketh away
the sin of the world." John i, 29.    It thus
marks the period of the Church's transition from
the dispensation of the law to that of the Gospel,
and designates the institution as a gospel ordinance, taking the place of the paschal supper
under the law.
It was a time, too, in the history of Christ's
humiliation, calculated to make every remembrance of it impressively tender and dear to all his
pious followers.
It was " the same night in which he was betrayed." 1 Cor. xi, 23. This solemn truth dwelt
in his own breast. Though he had repeatedly
signified to his disciples that he was soon to be
offered up, they probably had no such lively view
of the event as the history of a few days furnished them and all who should afterward believe.
They were not probably affected by the cor





12       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


mand, " Do this in remembrance of me," at the
first supper, as they were after the scene of the
crucifixion. But the fact that in his bosom
alone dwelt the secret that it was his dying injunction to his endeared followers, was calculated
to render it the more tender and impressive when
in after time they should recall the event with all
its heart-stirring associations.
These associations are full of interest, and cannot fail, if devoutly called up in the mind, favorably to dispose the heart and affections preparatory to a discharge of this Christian duty. I
dwell upon this thought because it is eminently
practical in its tendency. Christian, contemplate
your Saviour as he sits among his disciples,
piously celebrating for the last time the feast of
the passover. Three years he had led this confiding band through evil and good report, instructing, comforting, and blessing them. Great was
his love toward them, and great was their love
toward him. He knew their expectations of a
temporal kingdom in this world. He knew their
ignorance of the nature and glory of the kingdom
he came to establish. He knew, too, the sorrow
that filled their hearts when he said to them, "I





ITS INSTITUTION.


13


go away." John xvi, 7. With tender regard
for their weakness he prepared them, by kind
words and soothing promises, which they but imperfectly understood, for the scenes of suffering
and sorrow which were about to open upon them.
He had conversed with Moses and Elias in presence of some of them, and been transfigured before them, to show them his future glory, and the
means by which he must enter into it. He had
discoursed to them largely and explicitly upon
his coming in the clouds of heaven on the last
day to judge the world, and to reward his faithful followers with a crown of glory. He had
promised them the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, to
be with them after his departure. All this, and
much more, he had said and done within a few
days, to prepare them for the solemn event which
was then about to occur. But they understood
not what all these things meant. He alone realized the truth that his "hour was come;" and,
like a kind and tender father, moved to leave a
memorial of affection to his children when about
to be called away from them by death, he designates the simple memorial which in all coming
time should be a test of their affection for him
2





14        THE LORD'S SUPPER.


Surely indifference to this command of our bless
ed Lord, made at such a time and under such
circumstances, is sad evidence of want of that affection which we owe to him.
On this point I may add that this ordinance
was instituted before the event it commemorates
had transpired. It was, as all agree, his death
upon the cross, which was shortly to occur, rather
than his acts and sayings during his ministry,
which were past, that he would have them remember. Remember me as your atoning Redeemer and Saviour. But what was there in the
death of Christ, considered merely as the tragical
end of a great, good, and wise man, which could
induce him to desire and enjoin that a perpetual
memorial of it should be kept by his followers?
It was a death inflicted by human authority upon
malefactors, and he would have borne, in the estimation of the world, the ignominy of such a death,
however undeserved, had he remained under its
power. What was there in such a death of their
beloved Master that could induce his disciples to
take more interest in it than in his life, or to hold
it in joyous memory, and celebrate it by a festive
rite? Surely nothing. Rather would they have





ITS INSTITUTION.


15


banished every thought of it from their mind, as
evidence of their disappointed hopes of his triumph over his enemies. Yet it was to celebrate
this death, and all the sufferings through which
he was about to pass to accomplish it, that the
supper was instituted by Christ. How was his
Divine mind filled with all the grace and glory
conveyed to wretched man by his death upon
the cross! Sublime was the spectacle indeed!
To see the Man of sorrows, just entering upon
the scene of his vicarious sufferings, alone conscious of the benefits of those sufferings to a lost
world, instituting a memorial by which his people were to remember him in these sufferings, is
evidence of his fidelity to the Father to finish his
work, and his care for his followers in providing
for them a perpetual means of grace and spiritual
edification.
With the scene of the supper fresh in their
minds, and the command of their Lord written
upon their hearts, I do not wonder that the early
disciples commemorated it often; that they made
it a part of their service whenever they met for
worship. Nor do I wonder that they chose death
-the death of martyrs-rather than neglect'a





16          THE LORD'S SUPPER.
duty so solemnly enjoined upon them. A due
reflection upon these circumstances connected
with the institution of this ordinance, ought to
inspire us with a deeper sense of our obligation
more devoutly and more frequently to observe it
than is usual with professing Christians.





SIMPLICITY OF ITS INSTITUTION.  17


CHAPTER II.
SIMPLICITY OF MANNER IN WHICH THE ORDINANCE
OF THE LORD'S SUPPER WAS INSTITUTED.
THE simple manner in which our Lord introduced this ordinance has struck me as worthy of
remark. There was no previous announcement
of his design to do so. No antecedent command, as in the case of the passover, to prepare
for it, or directions how to prepare. No noise
as of a mighty rushing wind, or appearance of
cloven tongues of fire, as at the outpouring of the
Spirit, whose special mission under the Gospel
dispensation was to be commemorated by the
rite of baptism, as a Gospel ordinance, which was
enjoined upon the disciples by their Master after
his resurrection. Nothing of the kind occurred
to call up the attention of the apostles to what
their Master was about to say and do, as anything extraordinary, much less as the introduction
of an institution to be observed by his followers
in all future time, more important in its nature





18       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


and design than any other which had ever been
ordained by him, or ever would be. He took
bread, gave thanks, and gave it to them to eat;
and then took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it
to them to drink. This is all that was visible
to the senses in the transaction. And this, it
seems, was a usage among the Jews on such occasions. He had eaten the passover with the
disciples, at which he had exposed the treachery
of Judas. And afterward, as they were eating,
"Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and brake it,
and gave unto them."  As they were eating "the
bread, or cake," as Mr. Benson says, 1" which the
master of the family used to divide among them
after they had eaten the passover."  Apart from
the words spoken by our Lord, and the attendant circumstances of the passover before,. and the
crucifixion that so soon  followed, what was
there in the simple act of distributing the bread
and wine among the disciples calculated to impress them that it contained the significance of a
solemn rite to be observed by Christians to the
end of time? Nothing at all. At most it was
a friendly expression of good-will among friends,
and might be practiced, and has been, and is





SIMPLICITY OF ITS INSTITUTION.     19
practiced, without suggesting a thought of its
being a sacrament. The same is true of the ordinance as administered in Protestant churches
to the present day. Who, coming into one of
our churches, and witnessing the ceremony of
administering the sacrament, without any knowledge of the consecration service, or the design and
import of the ordinance other than what they
derived from simply witnessing the distribution
of the bread and wine, would deem it of sufficient
significance to engage the devout attention of the
pious, to be observed by them as a religious rite?
This absence of all pomp and show, of everything calculated to invest it with magnificence
and render it attractive to the senses as a new
and extraordinary institution, is the cause, perhaps, why so little importance has been attached
to it from  the beginning by unbelievers and
merely nominal professors, who seem to say in
their hearts, if not in direct terms: " Of what use
can so tame and unmeaning a ceremony as eating a little bread and drinking a little wine be to
render an habitual observance of it binding upon
the consciences of rational beings?"  To such it
can be of no use. It never was; it never will





20       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


be. They are totally disqualified to profit by the
ordinance under any circumstances.
But lest more seriously disposed persons be led
to undervalue and neglect this ordinance, by indulging in similar reflections respecting it, we
should not fail to have the truth duly impressed
upon the minds of all, that it is not the ordinance
which claims our pious devotions and affectionate
remembrance, but the great.mystery of the atonement, with all its benefits. For this reason its
very simplicity commends it to our approval and
admiration. Man has always been prone in his
religious tendencies to worship the creature more
than the Creator-the sensible representation of
the invisible more than the invisible represented.
This is the source of all the idolatry in the world.
And it has been the unhappy cause of no small
degree of idolatry in the Church. Hence did
the Lord Jehovah forbid the bowing down in
worship to the image or likeness of anything in
heaven above or earth beneath. Yet the abomination that maketh desolate has again and again
been seen in the holy place. A bigoted devotion
has been paid, and is paid, even in Protestant
Churches, to mere circumstantials in the ordi




SIMPLICITY OF ITS INSTIfUTION.     21
nances and service of the house of God. Forms
and modes have been dignified with fhe attributes
of essentials in religion. And in the worship of
God, who, through these forms, instituted for our
help, is to be worshiped in spirit and in truth,
it is to be feared (it can scarcely be doubted)
that these outward things greatly distract the
minds of many, if they have not a pre-eminence
in them to an extent which amounts to idolatry.
How happily is the institution of the Lord's
Supper guarded by its simplicity from all such
tendencies. There is nothing in it calculated to
divert our thoughts from the great object of our
meditations and devout reverence which it is intended to represent. It has indeed been perverted. It has been made an object of worship.
But to adapt it to such a use the bread has been
converted into the real body, and the wine into
the real blood of Christ, by the vain imagination
of corrupt minds. Admitting this to be the
truth, that our Lord was presenting to the disciples not bread and wine simply, as indicated to
the senses, but his real body and blood, and by
an easy process it is made an object of worship.
But so the apostles did not understand him. So





22       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


we do not understand him. The fiction is too
absurd for belief. Divested then of everything
except what was plainly brought before the senses
of the disciples, perceived and contemplated by
them as their understanding dictated, the whole
transaction seemed eminently devised to guard
against its being observed with a veneration for
the institution calculated either to impair the
mental unity, so important in our approach to
our great atoning sacrifice through the use of it,
or to divert the mind and affections from the
thing signified, by suffering them to be unduly
ensuared and captivated by the mere sign.
In our preparation for the communion of the
Lord's table, we should endeavor to have our
minds duly impressed with this view of the subject, and approach it, through this simple ordinance, by faith in the great atonement it sets
forth.





ITS SIGNIFICANCE.


23


CHAPTER III.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ORDINANCE, AS INDICATED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH ATTENDED THE INSTITUTION OF IT, AND IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED IT.
THIS ordinance, though so simple, is significant
-eminently significant-and was designed by
the Saviour to be so received and understood by
his followers then and forever. Its significance
is derived from the time and place of its institution; the circumstances, past, present, and future,
with which it was connected; and the words
spoken by the Saviour defining its nature and
design. A calm consideration of all these will
prepare the pious believer to appreciate its value
and importance, and observe it in the spirit of
that faith and devotion which is necessary to
secure the benefits it is designed to convey.
We have already noticed that this sacrament
was instituted at the place where our Lord celebrated the last passover with his disciples. The





24       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


passover was instituted in Egypt, to commemorate the deliverance of God's people from their
bondage to Pharaoh. It was a type, also, of a
deliverer which God had promised for the redemption of the world. So it was received and
understood by the whole nation, who every year
made the offering required by the law for this
purpose. Not only was this ordinance annually
celebrated until the time of John the Baptist, but
during his peculiar dispensation. Christ, with
his disciples, observed it. In this, as in other
similar acts, he manifested his respect for the
ordinances and ceremonies of the law. It was in
compliance with an ordinance of the law that he
was baptized of John, and thus visibly inaugurated into his public ministry. He taught in the
temple, and   worshiped  there, calling  it his
Father's house. All through his sojourn with
his disciples, he practiced what the law enjoined,
condemning only the vain traditions of the Pharisees. All these things he taught and observed,
as of divine appointment, up to the time of instituting this sacrament.
The event was rendered peculiarly solemn from
the frequent allusions he had made to his dis




ITS SIGNIFICANCE.


25


ciples, that the time of his departure out of the
world was at hand. He had just told them that
he must go up to Jerusalem, and suffer many
things, and be put to death. He expressed an
earnest desire to eat the passover with them at
that time, in language calculated to convince them
that in his divine mind there was something of
peculiar interest in the occasion. He announced,
too, on that occasion, that he would eat it no
more with them until he should eat it new in his
Father's kingdom. Add to this what followed
the supper: Judas, one of them, had been detected and exposed as the guilty betrayer of his
master, and left them to consummate his diabolical
deed of perfidy and crime. And when they had
sung a hymn they went out into the mount of
Olives, and he discoursed to them of the things
of the kingdom. That beautiful and instructive
discourse about the vine and the branches, showing the mystic union between him and his followers, with the soul-supporting declaration: "I
go to prepare a place for you," (John xiv, 3,)
were uttered to them on that memorable night
in the garden of agony and sweat, or on their
way to it. Weighed down in spirit, he said to





26       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


his beloved James and John: "My soul is exceeding sorrowftil, even unto death." Matt. xxvi,
38. He was alone in his agony while his wondering, weary disciples were heavy with sleep;
and he cried, "Father, if it be possible, let this
cup pass from me." Matt. xxvi, 39. Betrayed
by a kiss into the hands of his enemies, to be
confronted by false witnesses, and condemned by
a mock trial to a malefactor's death, he was
rudely dragged away by them. Forsaken by his
followers, and denied by one who had said,
"Though I die with thee yet will I not deny
thee," (Matt. xxvi, 35,) he was made the sport
and contempt of profane soldiers and an infuriated
populace. He bore his own cross to the place of
execution, and fainted under the exhausting burden. And on the cross his greatest anguish was
the withdrawal of his Father's comfort and support. He prayed for his enemies, cried, "It is
finished," and gave up the ghost at the very time
for eating the paschal supper, which, on this occasion, he anticipated with his disciples. All this
occurred on,the night and the day following the
institution of the supper.
And then consider the miracle which attended





ITS SIGNIFICANCE.


this scene: the supernatural darkness whic,.
spread over the whole land of Judea, from the
sixth until the nifith hour; the terrible earthquake,
and the rending of the vail of the temple from
the top to the bottom; and all the portentous
signs which caused his guilty murderers to
tremble, and, as is believed, prevented the service of the paschal supper being observed in all
the nation, except by Christ and his disciples, that
year.
Deeply and solemnly were his followers affected by the scenes of those few hours. Nor did
they fully understand their mysterious import.
The shepherd was smitten and the sheep scattered. With his lacerated body their hopes were
buried in the tomb. Three dreary days and
nights they wandered, and mourned, and wept.
But a new impulse was awakened in their throbbing bosoms when, early on the first day of the
week, it was proclaimed that the Lord had risen
from  the dead, and appeared to Mary and to
Peter. Echo sounded it out from hill-top to hilltop, and through the vales and ravines within
and without the walls of the forsaken and bloodstained city. His guilty murderers caught the





28       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


alarm, and colluded with the soldiers to proclaim
it a fraud. The disciples were slow to believe it.
When Mary Magdalene and her companions told
the apostles that two angels whom they had seen
at the sepulcher had said, "He is not here, but
is risen," (Luke xxiv, 6,) "their words seemed
to them as idle tales, and they believed them
not." Luke xxiv, 11. They would not be deceived. Nor would the Master deceive them.
As their weakness could bear it, he presented
additional demonstrations of the reality of his
death and resurrection, and the great end for
which he died and rose again. As two disciples,
on their way to Emmaus, were talking of these
things, he revealed himself to them. They returned the same hour to Jerusalem and found
the eleven together, and they that were with
them, and said to them, " The Lord is risen indeed."  Then and there, at the same moment,
Jesus stood in their midst. He said, "Behold
my hands, and my feet, that it is I myself." He
' showed them his hands and feet," his wounds
upon the cross, whence issued the blood which
he shed "for the remission of sins." Luke xxiv,
39, 40. And he said unto them, "These are the





ITS SIGNIFICANCE.


29


words which I spake unto you, while I was yet
with you, that all things must be fulfilled which
were written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Then opened he their understanding, that they
might understand the Scriptures, and said unto
them, 'Thus it is written, and thus it behooved
Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the
third day: and that repentance and remission of
sins should be preached in his name among all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are
witnesses of these things.'" Luke xxiv, 44-48.
Of these things; all these things written aforetime in Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms,
concerning him; these things prefigured by the
types and shadows under the law, up to the very
night in which he was betrayed; these things
especially pointed to by the sacrifice of the lamb
in the passover; these things which they had
witnessed, and which had filled their sorrowing
hearts for the few days only since they commenced,
his suffering in the garden and on the cross, his
resurrection from the tomb, and his manifestation
of himself to them as their crucified and risen
Lord and Saviour, the true and only sacrificial
3





80       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


offering for the sins of the world; these things
of which they were his appointed witnesses,
though embraced, as matters of testimony, by
them within a few days. These were things of
awful and thrilling import. In the whole time
of the world's long history neither men nor
angels have been witnesses of things of such monient, such deep and soul-inspiring interest to our
perishing race, as were crowded upon the minds
and hearts of the disciples in this brief period.
It was to commemorate these things, and perpetuate their testimony of the truth of his sufferings and resurrection as witnesses of both, that
the sacrament of the supper was instituted. So
they now undoubtedly understood it, though
they could not comprehend it before.
Still more significant were the words our Lord
used on that occasion. Take Paul's account of
it: "The Lord Jesus, the same night in which
he was betrayed, took bread: and when he had
given thanks, he brake 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 in





ITS SIGNIFICANCE.


31


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 show the Lord's
death till he come."' 1 Cor. xi, 23-27.
While breaking the bread he said, "This is
my body, which is broken for you."    That is,
this represents, and, in this ordinance, is designed
always to represent, to your minds and hearts,
my body, broken for you. The thing especially
represented, to be cherished in your thoughts
and influence your hearts, is, my broken bodybroken for you-wounded, pierced, broken upon
the cross, to make atonement for the sin of the
world. Of the cup he said, "This cup is the
New Testament in my blood "-represents and
sets forth my blood, which, as Matthew has it,
"is shed for you and for many, for the remission
of sins." His blood, shed upon the cross, was the
thing represented by the cup. And in the performance of these acts of eating the broken bread,
and drinking the cup, in compliance with the
injunction of the Saviour, he said, "Ye do show
the Lord's death till he come." His death, then,
and all that is vital and important to a sinful
world in his death, is signified by this ordinance.





32       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


Did not the disciples so understand it when
he had ascended up out of their sight? Doubtful as they may have been, as to the import of
the injunction, " This do in remembrance of me,"
before. they had witnessed his death upon the
cross, they could not then misunderstand the
meaning of the words, " my body which is broken
for you"-" my blood which is shed for you""the Lord's death;" and that it was as their
wounded, bleeding, crucified Saviour, now exalted
to save and bless them, that he would be remembered by them in this ordinance.
It seems clearly evident, then, that Christ
crucified; Christ a sacrificial offering for sin;
Christ wounded   for our transgressions and
bruised for our iniquities; Christ our passover,
as a lamb that was slain; Christ who bore our
sins in his own body on the tree; Christ the
Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the
world; in a word, Christ who said, "Lo, I come
to do thy will, 0 God," by which will we are
sanctified through the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all, is the central and allabsorbing idea contained in the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper. ~ This is the subject of our medi




ITS SIGNIFICANCE.           33
tations and the object of our faith. And the
more exclusively we are limited and shut up to
this great central idea of the vicarious sufferings
of the Saviour, as a propitiatory offering for sin,
the more acceptably and profitably shall we use
this divinely-instituted rite for spiritual edification;
while they who observe it in any way without
having their minds and hearts duly impressed
with this vital truth, cannot be profited at all,
" not discerning the Lord's body."
As the atonement made by Christ, through his
sufferings and death, is the thing to be commemorated by the symbol of the sacrament, we
will proceed to consider it more particularly in
its application and design.





84       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


CHAPTER IV.
THE LORD'S SUPPER CONSIDERED AS A MEMORIAL.
As A MEMORIAL, the institution of the Lord's
Supper was intended to perpetuate to all succeeding generations the authenticity of the record of
the world's redemption by Jesus Christ. "Ye
are my witnesses," said he, "of these things."
Luke xxiv, 48. Witnesses they were. They had
been with him in the garden. They had seen
him upon the cross, fastened to it by nails driven
in his hands and feet, and his side pierced by a
soldier's spear. Their weeping -eyes had looked
upon him as he bowed his head and gave up the
ghost. They had seen him, too, after he was
risen from the dead-seen the wounds in his
hands, and feet, and side. They had conversed
and communed with him. They had received
his commission to do the work he left them on
earth to do, followed him out to the Mount of
Olives, and there he was received up by a supernatural cloud out of their sight. These were





CONSIDERED AS A MEMORIAL.


35


facts upon which rested the evidence that he was
the promised Redeemer, the mediator of the
new covenant; facts which left no doubt on their
own minds, and facts which were necessary to
be believed by all, in all coming time, who
should receive him   as their Redeemer and
Saviour.
How, then, were they to be his witnesses of
these things to generations to come? In any
reasonable court they would have been. received
as accredited witnesses of the things they had
seen and heard. But he left the testimony with
them, to be conveyed and confirmed by them to
all men in all coming ages. This they could do
only by a perpetual memorial, so instituted as to
contain in itself evidence of the truth and veracity
of those whose testimony it was designed to
communicate.
Let us then briefly examine the institution of
the Supper, as a means of rendering the disciples
witnesses of the facts on which are founded our
faith in the atonement made for us by Jesus
Christ.
This is a point of vast importance. To receive
Jesus of Nazareth as the true Messiah, we must





36       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


be convinced that he was truly the Holy One of
God predicted of by the prophets, and prefigured
by the types and shadows under the law: He
must be shown to us as the prophet to be raised
up like unto Moses-greater than Moses-whose
reproach or vicarious sufferings Moses by faith
esteemed greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt. He must appear the end of the law fo
righteousness-the Lord our righteousness; not
as a servant in the house of God, but as Lord
over his own house. He must be brought before
the mind as the true foundation on which all
must build for heaven. With him the types, and
shadows, and temple service of the old dispensation must cease, and a new and more spiritual
worship be instituted. "He taketh away the first
that he may establish the second." Heb. x, 9.
All these things were, according to the Scriptures,
to mark the bringing in of the new and better
covenant. For the establishment of the New
Testament, also, was the death of the testator
necessary. "Neither by the blood of goats and
calves, but by his own blood, he entered once
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Heb. ix, 12. " For where i





CONSIDERED AS A MEMORIAL.


testament is, there must also of necessity be the
death of the testator." Heb. ix, 16. For a full
and devout faith in the atonement-the facts in
the history of redemption which assure us that
Jesus Christ accomplished it upon the cross for
us-and that he thus became the Head of the
Church, which is his body, we need evidence to
bring the whole subject near, declared as it were
in our ears by living witnesses.
Let us then examine these witnesses, appointed
for this very purpose by the Master; and the
nature and sufficiency of their testimony to sustain the faith of succeeding generations.
After the Passover which he had kept with
them, he took bread, and brake it, and said, "Take,
eat; this is my body which is broken for you;"
likewise also he took the cup, after supper, and
gave it to them, saying, "This cup is my blood in
the New Testament which is shed for you."  The
act was significant, as if he had said: "That
which we have just celebrated is an ordinance of
God, instituted as a memorial of the deliverance
of his people out of Egyptian bondage. Up to
this time it has been lawful, and the observance
of it a duty binding upon all the house of Israel.





88        THE LORD'S SUPPER.


But this is the end. The fullness of time is come
for the doing away of all these ceremonies of the
law. Ye shall eat it no more. This, the ordinance I now institute, is hereafter to be observed
by you in its stead, as a memorial of the abrogation of the ceremonies of the law, and the beginning of the Gospel in its form and fullness. It is
designed to commemorate this event, and its introduction by my death upon the cross. All its
virtue and efficacy is derived from my sacrificial
offering of myself for the sins of many. The
facts of my death and resurrection you shall
shortly witness. The design and effect of those
sufferings, in making atonement for a sinful
world, I declare explicitly, in assuring you that
my body is broken for you, and my blood shed
for the remission of sins. These are facts to be
believed and treasured up in the heart, in order
to the obtaining of salvation through faith in my
name.   'And ye are my witnesses of these
things.' 'As often as ye eat this bread, and
drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death
till he come."'
With hearts full of love and zeal, they did
everywhere bear witness to the things they had





CONSIDERED AS A MEMORIAL.


39


seen and heard, and thousands credited their
testimony and turned to the Lord.
But how, it will be inquired, does the institution of the sacrament become evidence of these
things? By its being a means to perpetuate it
through all succeeding time. It might have
been perpetuated by tradition from generation
to generation. But in that way it was liable
to be corrupted by misapprehension of its terms
and import, or a perversion of them. The
precise acts and words of our Lord, presenting to the mind clearly and explicitly the sign,
and the thing signified, would be subject to be
altered by oral communications, so as to cease to
designate the fact intended to be conveyed, as a
basis of faith and devotion. But the institution
of the Supper as a memorial of what Christ said
and did, and also of the great things signified by
this symbolic representation, habitually observed
by the disciples and their successors, continued
an unvarying monumental evidence of the truth
of what the eve-witnesses observed.
The force and power of this kind of evidence
to carry conviction to the understanding, is very
clearly set forth by Mr. Leslie, in his "L Short and





40        THE LORD'S SUPPER.


Easy Method with the Deists."    "A matter of
fact," he says, " however remote, is rendered incontestable by the following criteria: 1. That
the matter of fact is such as men's senses, their
eyes and ears, may judge of; 2. That it be done
publicly; 3. That both public monuments be kept
up in memory of it, and some outward actions be
performed; 4. That such monuments and such actions or observances be instituted and do commence
from the time that the matter of fact was done."
All these criteria exist in regard to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The things said and
done were such as the disciples did see and hear.
The record of them is precise and simple. The
death of Christ, also, which he said they did
show forth in this ordinance, they witnessed with
equal demonstration.   All these things were
public and notorious. The ordinance of the
Supper was instituted and commanded to be observed at the time of the occurrence, and for the
declared purpose of perpetuating a memory of
these things. And from that time to the present
it has been publicly observed in the Churches,
with the same profession always and everywhere,
that its design is to show forth "the Lord's





CONSTDERED AS A MEMORTAL.


41


death till he come."  Of the facts of the sacred
record, touching the redemption of the world by
the sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ
at Jerusalem, more than eighteen hundred years
ago, there can be no more incontestable evidence
than the uninterrupted observance of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper by Christians to the
present time.
There is no fraud or collusion in it. Imposture is impossible. Look at the disciples, with
the three thousand which were added to them
on the day of Pentecost. They were baptized
with the Holy Ghost, according to the promise
of their risen Saviour, and " continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine and 'fellowship,
and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." Acts
ii, 42. Daily they continued with one accord in
the temple, " and in breaking bread from house
to house."  Eusebius says they commemorated
the body and blood of Christ daily. This they
did openly in each other's houses when they came
together for social and public worship. And always did they do it professedly in memory of
Christ crucified and risen among them. This
was their witness, before enemies as well as





42       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


friends, of the things they had seen and heard,
and of their faith in the atonement made by
Jesus Christ, as proven and confirmed by these
things, showing forth the Lord's death as he had
commanded them.
Could these be either deceived or deceivers?
Deceived!   How?   Deceivers!   How?   The
things they commemorated were of public notoriety. If they had not occurred, and so occurred
as to be judged of by the senses, the eyes and
ears of men, the delusion could and would have
been detected and exposed at once. It could not
have survived the first attack of its enemies.
"That no such events," they would have said,
" as you profess to commemorate, ever transpired
at Jerusalem, all the people know."
Nor could the observance of this rite as a
memorial of the story of the Saviour's sufferings,
death, and resurrection; or of the ordinance instituted to be observed in commemoration of these
things; or any change or modification of the record of them, or of the acts and words setting
forth the design of that ordinance, ever have
been introduced and brought into practice at any
subsequent time. Whoever mighE have colluded





CONSIDERED AS A MEMORIAL.


43


to do this would have been confuted by the testimony of all the people that no such custom as
they affirmed to have been in practice, from the
time of the events said to be commemorated, had
existed, and the forgery would have defeated
itself. The fact that this ordinance has been
publicly observed in all the Christian world, and
in every age of the Church's history, setting forth
and alleging that it was instituted, and has been
observed, to show forth the Lord's death till he
come, is one of the most incontestable and convincing evidences of the authenticity of the sacred
record, and the truth and divinity of our holy
Christianity, which the codes of evidence can
furnish. When we approach the Lord's table as
communicants, and feel that we are following the
holy apostles, early disciples, martyrs, and primitive saints, in their most holy acts of worship,
and doing the very thing they did under the
shadow of the cross, an easy exercise of faith
brings us into close communion with these venerated worshipers. We seem     almost intuitively
to realize with them the Saviour's presence as if
crucified among us. In our spiritf we sympathize with him,





44       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


"As though we every one
Beneath his cross had stood;
And seen him heave, and heard him groan,
And felt his gushing blood."
The obligation of all Christians to receive the
holy sacrament as often as they have opportunity,
as a memorial, or in compliance with the Saviour's
command, " This do in remembrance of me," is
twofold.
First. It is a duty of every disciple to do his
part promptly and punctually in sustaining and
carrying forward the work which the whole
Church was commissioned by the Master to do.
When he went up into heaven to represent' his
militant Church there, he left his disciples on
earth to represent him   here.  He would be
preached by a living ministry, and therefore has
chosen whom he would, and commissioned them
"to go into all the world, and preach his Gospel
to every creature." Mark xvi, 15. All who are
brought to feel, as Paul was, that a dispensation
of the Gospel is committed to them, realize the
force of his declaration: "Necessity is laid upon
me; yea, and woe is me if I preach not the Gospel." 1 Cor. ix, 16. But what is the reason of
this strong obligation?  Plainly, to carry into





CONSIDERED AS A MEMORIAL.


effect the economy of spreading through the
world, by human instrumentality, to the end of
time, the Gospel of this salvation. And upon
the faithfulness of these chosen instruments has
been suspended, in a good degree from the beginning, the success of the Gospel and the spread of
the Redeemer's kingdom.
But while this charge is committed to them in
the aggregate, each individual is under the same
obligation to do his part, as if the whole duty
rested on him alone. Had one, appointed thereto, neglected the work of preaching the word, for
the reason that the perpetuity of a living ministry
could not be endangered by losing out of the
mighty army to whom the commission is given
one only like himself, all might for the same
reason have done the same thing. - Thus would
the preaching of Christ crucified, the instrumentality which God has ordained in the economy of
his grace to perpetuate the Gospel and its blessings in the world to the end of time, long ago
have ceased. And who would have been responsible? Each one for himself. In this, as in everything else pertaining to personal religion and
duty, " every one must give account of himself
4





46       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


to God." Rom. xiv, 12. And what an account
will some be called to render! That wicked and
slothful servant, whoever he may be, that has hid
the talent committed to him, will be condemned
and cast out. But there have. always been those,
though sometimes comparatively few, who have
preached the word, been instant in season and
out of season, and, constrained by the love of
Christ, borne along the standard of their crucified
Lord amid the darkness of error and superstition,
and the terrors of bloody persecution, as though
the duty and the glory of saving the kingdom of
their Master from utter extinction in the world
rested on them alone. Little as might seem the
importance of the fidelity manifested by these
faithful soldiers of Jesus Christ in fulfilling the
command of their Lord, their own hearts acquitted
them in the sight of God; and they are they who,
through all the history of the Church, have prospered in their own souls, and been honored with
success in winning souls to Christ. - They are the
burning and shining lights through whose luminous pathway the cross and its hallowing doctrines
have been conveyed to us for our approval and
acceptance. Happy men! to whom     the Lord





CONSIDERED AS A MEMORIAL.


47


will say in the last day, "Well done, good and
faithful servants." Matt. xxv, 21.
Now let it be remembered that, precisely as
our Lord has committed to his ministers the
solemn charge to perpetuate the doctrines of the
cross by the preaching of the word, so has he
committed to all his followers the charge to do
the same thing by an observance of the holy
sacrament of the Supper. " As often as ye eat
this bread," said he, " and drink this cup, ye do
show the Lord's death till he come." " This do
in remembrance of me."  Was not this command
as explicit as that given to his ministers, to go
into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every
creature? And it is enjoined upon every individual who names the name of Christ. Who
can evade its force? Who that slights or neglects
the solemn duty it enjoins can answer for it before God more than for breaking the command,
"Thou shalt do no murder?"  Solemn thought!
But it is God's truth. We shall be judged by it
in a coming day.
But the duty is a reasonable one, and, if
rightly understood, will be esteemed by the truly
pious rather a privilege than a duty. The sub




48        THE LORD'S SUPPER.


stance of this ordinance is, as we have seen, to
show the Lord's death till he come. The same
this as the preaching of the word. To perpetuate it pure from the fountain there must be an
uninterrupted succession of testimony, rendering
imposture or innovation impossible from the
beginning. To secure this the blessed Redeemer
deposited the sacred trust with his followers, and
instituted the sacrament to enable them to discharge it. But to do this they must witness for
him in a faithful and habitual observance of this
ordinance. Is it not a privilege as well as a duty
to have part, and each one the individual part
assigned him, in this glorious scheme of sustaining the great doctrines of the atonement in the
world, and conveying them down to future generations with a force of evidence that confounds
infidelity and inspires the sincere with unwavering
confidence? As the perpetuity of this faithinspiring evidence rests wholly upon the fidelity
of Christians to sustain this ordinance, as a memorial of Christ's passion and death, the duty to
do so is commensurate with the importance of a
continuance of this help to our faith in the
Church and the world.





CONSIDERED AS A MrEMORIAL.


Do any reason with themselves that the
Church always has done this, and probably always will, though they as individuals may
neglect it? Let such remember that the command is as directly to them as to those who do
conscientiously observe it. It is given to all, and
is equally binding on all. If others should
reason in the same way, and do as they do, then
would the current of evidence be cut off from the
fountain, and this glorious means of salvation be
annihilated forever. As I have said before, the
obligation is binding equally upon every individual member of the Church, as truly and really
as if the entire consequence of its being observed
or neglected by all were suspended upon him
alone. Let every Christian think of this-think
for what purpose the Master said to all and each
one of his followers, " This do in remembrance
of me," and decide, as before the Lord-who, the
same night in which he was betrayed, uttered
the solemn injunction-whether he can turn away
with indifference from this ordinance and not sin
against God.
But I said, rightly understood, to the pious
believer it is an exalted privilege. Deep piety is





50       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


always accompanied with a desire to do good.
It is self-stimulating. " Did not our heart burn
within us?" said the disciples to'whom he revealed
himself in the breaking of bread after his resurrection, "Did not our heart burn within us while
he talked with us by the way, and while lie
opened to us the Scriptures?" Luke xxiv, 32.
All truly devout Christians have felt the same.
They felt it when they were converted. The
language of their hearts was,
"0 for a thousand tongues, to sing
My great Redeeo er's praise."
The same faith and love fill the soul at all
times with the same ardent desire to confess
Christ before men, by proclaiming.the Saviour's
love to a dying world. It bursts forth like an
unquenchable flame in the irrepressible language
of the poet:
" My gracious Master, and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of thy name."
It is this spirit of love and zeal which always
accompanies a lively state of religious experience,
that induces many pious young men to think





CONSIDERED AS A MEMORIAL.


51


they have a call to preach, because it is in its
nature and tendency the same. "The love of
Christ constraineth us," said Paul. "The love
of Christ constraineth us," responds every truly
devoted Christian. Thus, in the class-meeting,
in the love-feast, in the social prayer or conference
meeting, in such language as they can command,
the learned and the unlearned are wont to proclaim the Saviour's love in dying for a world of
sinners-dying for them. Nothing gives them
more inward satisfaction than thus to confess
Christ and proclaim his love. They feel that he
approves of it and blesses them in it.
Now, Christian brethren, listen for a moment
to the words of truth touching your privilege in
this matter. Your blessed Lord and Master has
provided, in the institution of the sacrament,
means by which you may regularly and most
effectually preach Christ and him crucified to a
dying world. Not indeed in the same manner as
the preacher, who, by the institution of the ministry, is appointed to publish the Gospel message
by preaching the word; but still as effectually, and
with less liability of presenting it with admixtures
of error or deteriorating elements of any kind,





52       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


The subject matter of the message, as indicated
by the terms in which the Saviour has settled
and fixed it in the sacred text, is " Christ and
him  crucified;" " Christ in you the hope of
glory."  This is the one concentrated idea that
the message conveys. It admits of no interpolation by the aberrations of human thought and
human fancy. There it stands, the substance of
Gospel truth, open, explicit, and all-powerful to
convince the understanding, awaken the conscience, and assure the humble believer of the
sufficiency of the atonement to save the soul
from  sin and death. Think of this as at the
sacred altar you receive the symbols of the
death of Him who died for you and rose again.
Think that in partaking of this ordinance you are
preaching Christ as really as if you were in the
sacred desk expounding the word. Think, too,
that you are preaching him in the very way he
has directed, and therefore the best way. No
words you can utter, under the strongest impulse
of feeling, to proclaim his goodness and love, can
be so acceptable to him, or so effectually accom.
plish your largest desire to promote his glory and
the salvation of souls, as this silent preaching





CONSIDERED AS A MEMORIAL.


53


at his altar, expressed in the way he has prescribed.
Moreover, consider the usual effect of this
silent preaching of God's people at the sacramental altar. Sometimes, under the preaching
of the word, there are sensible manifestations of
feeling in the audience; it may be the result of
the eloquence and power of the preacher; and it
may be, and often is, the spirit of God attending
the word to the hearts and consciences of the
people. You have witnessed, too, impulses of
feeling, perhaps among the wicked, when simplehearted Christian men and women have spoken
before them of the things of God, and witnessed
a good profession for Christ their Saviour. But
never did a company of sincere Christians come
to the Lord's table, and there, in the spirit of
devotion, receive the sacred symbols of his passion
and death as he has commanded, without a
general solemnity upon all minds, spectators as
well as communicants, such as is not usual ordinarily under the preaching of the word. And
were this ordinance universally observed by
Christians, and observed in that spirit of deep
and ardent piety which fits the communicant to





54       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


profit by it himself, how much greater this effect
upon others would be, who can tell? Who, indeed, can tell how much of the religious sentiment, the seriousness and reflection, and the inward conviction of the necessity of salvation
through faith in the atonement, which have obtained a permanent lodgment in the hearts and
feelings of the unconverted who mingle in our
assemblies, and on the subjects of our prayers and
solicitudes, is received through the means of
witnessing the solemn profession made by Christ's
disciples in this memorial of his death? Is it not
then a privilege thus to proclaim the Lamb of
God to sinners in the way God has appointed?
And is it not a duty, too, since he has commanded
it? Let all who profess to love Christ and his
cause think of these things and lay them up in
their hearts.
But the command, "This do in remembrance
of me," conveys another distinct and most impressive idea. It is the language of friendship
to endeared friends on occasion of being separated from them. This do for the love I have
for you, and you for me, that it may be kept
alive by frequently calling to mind the cause





CONSIDERED AS A MEMORIAL.


55


which has produced it. "' Herein is love, not that
we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his
Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John iv,
10. " We love Him, because he first loved us."
1 John iv, 19.
It supposes some gift bestowed, to be kept as
a memento, and often looked upon by the receiver, as a means, by a law of association, of reviving in the mind a remembrance of the friend
who gave it; or something to be done, as directed
by that friend, producing the same effect. Such
a token has all the power of bringing up in the
contemplative mind the absent friend, and of reviving the sentiments and sympathies which his
presence and excellences inspire, that a real reunion of the parties would occasion. Hence the
practice has been common in all ages of the
world.
A young man was taught the fear of God by
his pious mother-the only being he ever learned
to love. But he did love her ardently, tenderly.
Death separated her from him. On her bed of
death she gave him a trifling memento, and saia
to him: " My son, I have nothing of value to
give you, only what I have given, the prayers





THE LOLD'S SUPPER.


and counsels of a mother. Take this, and keep
it as a token of my affection; and whenever you
look upon it remember me."   He soon forgot
his mother, neglected the meniento of her affection, and gave himself up to a course of dissipation and crime. Justice overtook him. It
found him hardened in sin. In his cell he was
obdurate and unfeeling. No chord could be
touched to awaken in him    a sense of guilt
or shame. With oaths and imprecations he
defied the law and the officers of justice. lHe
turned away with equal disdain from friends who
sought him out to administer to his comfort.
Shocked at the daring impiety of his unfeeling
heart, they sighed and departed. There was no
relenting in his bosom. Every avenue seemed
closed up to a tender thought or virtuous emotion. But the adamant was smitten, dissolved,
and melted. His mother's memento, which had
been neglected among his cast-off articles, was
brought out and presented to him. He was
overwhelmed with emotion. The great deep of
his soul was broken up. He was subdued, and
wept and sobbed; and in broken accents he exclaimed, " 0 my mother! my dear mother! I





CONSIDERED AS A MEMORIAL.


see her, I see her as she lay upon her dying
bed, and told me to take that and remember
her. 0! if I had remembered her; if I had
remembered her love, and prayers, and counsels,
I should have been preserved from this evil
hour." But that mother could not save, could
not help him.
Jesus our dying Lord has left us a mementothe sacrament-as a remembrancer of him. " This
do," said he, " in remembrance of me."  He is
not only our friend, but our Saviour, and as
such we are directed to remember him. Cold
must that heart be which is not inflamed with
an ardent desire to fulfill to the uttermost this
dying injunction of the Redeemer of the world.
But we must take a more particular view of
this injunction of our Lord in order to make a
right and profitable application of it. We can
readily understand how the disciples, who were
present with him, heard him utter the command, and witnessed his passion and death,
would realize the bature and intent of the duty
enjoined, and fulfill it with all the deep feeling
that the circumstances were calculated to inspire. But how can we, removed centuries from





THE LORD'S SUPPER.


the scenes of that memorable night, who did
not see, or hear, or feel, what they saw, and
heard, and felt-how can we remember him in
this ordinance, as they were commanded to remember him?
How? By faith; by a realizing faith. In
no other way can it be done. In this way it
may be, it is done.   Let none mistake here.
All faith is not realizing faith. A mere mental
belief in the record of Christ's sufferings and
death is faith-faith that is necessary to salvation, but not the realizing faith which brings salvation  into the soul.   The merely nominal
believer acknowledges the truth of the sacred
history, that the man, Christ Jesus, was born of
the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried, and that he rose
again from the dead on the third day, and
ascended into heaven. All this he steadfastly
believes, and this is all.  He has no sense of
his guilt as a sinner, and therefore none of his
need of a saviour. He has no interest in Christ
crucified. In such a state he is not qualified to
understand the import of the command, "This
do in remembrance of me."   He has nothing of





CONSIDERED AS A MEMORIAL.


59


interest to remember. The record of Christ's
sufferings he has admitted as true, just like any
other well authenticated historical record; and
he feels no personal interest or benefit in calling
it up to remembrance by any means other than
the record itself. Indeed, we cannot well conceive how a person with no higher or more
lively faith in Christ, can in any just sense remember him. But more than this is implied in
the requirement, "This do in remembrance of
me."   Let no communicant suppose that he
has fulfilled the command of Christ, if he receive
the holy sacrament merely in remembrance of
the historical fact that Christ was crucified at
Jerusalem, as the Scriptures testify. He does
not remember him    at all in the sense of the
command. As well might he communicate in
remembrance of the promise made to Abraham,
or the introduction of the Gospel to the Gentiles
by the preaching of Peter. Here there is no
realizing, appropriating faith; no soul-stirring
reality to be recalled by a remembrance of Him.
This merely intellectual belief is, indeed,
sometimes accompanied by strong impulses of
feeling.  We naturally sympathize with     the





60       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


suffering victim of cruelty. A tragical scene
presented to the mind in a way to take sudden
possession of it, at once brings all the tender
emotions of our nature into action, and we feel
and weep, and scarcely know why. Fiction itself has this power over us, when there is not
a particle of faith in the reality of the things
represented. Is it any wonder, then, that men
and women who believe in the truth of the
record of Christ's sufferings should be moved
with sympathy when, by any means, those sufferings are brought vividly before their minds?
It is somewhere stated, that while an eloquent
divine was portraying the sufferings of Christ,
and the audience were absorbed and melted to
tears, an officer of high rank drew his sword, and
audibly exclaimed, " O  if I had been there i"
He was an infidel of the French school. The
same result might have been produced had the
martyrdom of Stephen been the theme of discourse. They had no faith which made Christ
to them anything more than an object of sympathy.   Recalling the scene of his sufferings
every day, by any means, would not produce in
them a single devotional feeling.





CONSIDERED AS A MEMORIAL.


61


Precisely here communicants are most liable
to be deceived. They meditate upon Christ's
sufferings until their feelings are overwhelmed
with the view  they have of them; and they
leave the table of the Lord in a state of mind
which they mistake for increased devotion and
spirituality.  They need. a warning voice to admonish them of the danger of this delusive snare.
Let them not be flattered with a belief that
they have fulfilled the requirement of the Lord,
" This do in remembrance of me," or shared in
the grace he imparts to those who truly and devoutly do this, if they have had no higher faith
than a mere belief in the reality of his sufferings, no other feeling than a keen sympathy for
him as an innocent sufferer.
If we have received Christ by faith, we have
had a realizing sense of his power and grace, as
our atoning Redeemer, to save us from sin. It
was at the moment our faith beheld him on the
cross, crucified for us and for the world, that we
felt the evidence of pardon and peace with God
through him. Such is the experience of all who
are truly converted to God. It was then that
Christ crucified became the object of the heart's





62       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


supreme affections. His image was impressed
upon it. He was the joy and the song of our
new-born souls by day and by night. Like Job,
we could say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth,"
Job xix, 25; or, in the language of the spouse,
" This is my beloved, and this is my friend."
Cant. v, 16. With David, we exclaimed, "Whom
have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none
upon earth that I desire besides thee." Ps. Ixxiii,
25. No object was so lovely, none so endeared
to the heart, as the suffering Saviour, seen by
faith upon the cross. It was his love, manifested
by his passion and death, that rendered him supremely lovely to the believing heart. " Unto
you which believe he is precious." 1 Peter ii, 7.
Precious in his blood-stained vesture! Precious
as a lamb that was slain!' It was then, Christians, that you were enabled to glory in the cross.
It was then that you felt that you were " not redeemed by corruptible things, by silver and gold,
but by the precious blood of Christ." 1 Peter i,
18. It was then that you discerned the Lord's
body, in which he bore our sins. Jesus Christ
and him crucified was all in all to you. Your
faith grasped all, appropriated all, and your soul





CONSIDERED AS A MEMORIAL.


63


was filled with peace and joy, while you steadfastly looked upon him, and beheld in him your
reconciled Saviour.
Thus were you brought to " know Him, and
the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship
of his sufferings, b1ing made conformable to his
death." Phil. iii, 10. And while your faith was
active, you had the same lively impression of his
image and his loveliness. It was in that state
he would have you always live. But he knows
our weakness, knows how liable we are to have
our minds drawn off from  a contemplation of
himself and his gracious dealings with us, and
thus lose our first love, as the Ephesians did, by
losing sight of the object of our faith.
As a means of keeping our faith and love
alive and active, he has instituted this memorial
of his death, and commanded us to observe it.
Such was its design, and such is its tendency.
In the simple act of receiving the broken bread
and the consecrated wine, we have a symbolical
representation of his broken body and shed blood.
It is the memorial he himself ordained; and, as
a portrait of a departed friend, presents him to
the mind just as our faith apprehended him





64          THE LORD'S SUPPER.
when we were enabled t o receive him as our Redeemer and Saviour. The sign and the thing
signified act and react upon each other, as our
love increases or grows cold. When our hearts
are animated with a sense of the love of Christ,
and the glories of the crossI fill our souls with
delight, we take pleasure in often recurring to
the symbol of his death and passion as a means
of keeping alive these heavenly emotions; and in
so doing we find our faith strengthened, and our
love and joy increased. But if we permit the
world to enter in and steal away our affections
from our crucified Redeemer, our delight in his
ordinances will also abate, and our danger of entire apostasy will be significantly indicated by
our indifference to both the sign and the thing
signified.





CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.


65


CHAPTER V.
THE LORD'S SUPPER CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.
THE Lord's Supper is, by common consent,
among Christians, a substitute for the paschal
supper under the law.  It was instituted immediately after our Lord had eaten that supper for
the last time with his disciples.  In close connection with that as a memorial of the deliverance of God's people from their bondage in
Egypt, he instituted his own ordinance, and commands that it should be kept in remembrance
of him to the end of time.
Among the resembling circumstances common
to the Jewish and Christian passover, Dr. Waterland, according to Dr. Clarke, embraces the following: "1. The Passover was of divine appointment, and so was the Eucharist. 2. The
Passover was a sacrament, and so was the
Eucharist, 3. The Passover was a memorial of
a great deliverance from temporal bondage; the
Eucharist is a memorial of a greater deliverance





66       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


from spiritual bondage. 4. The Passover pre.
figured the death of Christ before it was accomplished; the Eucharist represents, or figures out,
that death now past. 5. The Passover was a
kind of foederal rite between God and man;
so is the Eucharist, as it points out the blood of
the sacrifice offered for the ratification of the
covenant between God and man."
The passover was a solemn and interesting
rite with the Jews. The pious Israelites observed
it with a religious awe and veneration, which told
how deeply they felt all that it was instituted
to impress upon their minds and keep alive in
their hearts. It was a perpetual monument of
the miraculous deliverance of their fathers from
a cruel bondage; and it was a sign of God's
covenant with his people, that the blood of
sprinkling, truly received and trusted in, was a
sure protection from the death incurred by sin.
The events which the passover commemorated were eminently calculated to fill the minds
of the devout worshipers of the true God with
sentiments of deep and ardent devotion. Pharoah, the head and representative of the proud
and idolatrous Egyptians, openly and blasphe.





CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.


67


mously denied God, saying to Moses, " Who is
the Lord that I should obey his voice, and let
Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I
let Israel go." Exod. v, 2. He hardened his heart
against God and his people, until he brought
upon himself swift destruction, first in the visitation of the angel commissioned to slay the
first-born of all the land of Egypt in one night,
and then in the destruction of himself and his
armed hosts in the Red Sea. On the evening
of that dreadful night, when the destroying
angel was commissioned to slay Egypt's firstborn, Moses, by the command of God, "called
for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them,
Draw out, and take you a lamb, according to
your families, and kill the passover. And ye
shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the
blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel
and the two side-posts with the blood that is in
the bason: and none of you shall go out of the
door of his house until the morning. For the
Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians;
and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and
on the two side-posts, the Lord will pass over
the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to





68       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


come in unto your houses to smite y'ou. And
ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to
thee and to thy sons forever. And it shall come
to pass, when ye be come to the land which the
Lord will give you according as he hath promised,
that ye shall keep this service.  And it shall
come to pass, when your children shall say unto
you, What mean ye by this service? that 3e
shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children
of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people
bowed the head and worshiped." Exod. xii, 21-27.
As a memorial simply of the deliverance of
God's people from temporal bondage, the Jewish
passover may be of little consequence to the
Christian communicant, other than to confirm his
faith in the power and goodness of God to protect and defend those who put their trust in him
at all times. But in other respects it is interesting, deeply interesting. The Jews themselves
considered it a sacrificial rite; and Christians
agree that it was a type of the great and glorious
things which the Lord's Supper, substituted in its
place, was instituted to commemorate. This view





CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.


69


of it is sustained by the Scriptures. " The Lamb
of God," to the ear of a pious Jew, was a term
of thrilling import. When John saw     Jesus
coming unto him, and cried out to the multitude
of his listening hearers, "Behold the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world,"
(John i, 29,) the glorious proclamation met a
warm response in the living sentiment that the
services of the altar had wrought into the moral
being of the believing Israelites, who waited for
the salvation of the Lord, as predicted by Moses
and the prophets, and typified in the ordinances
of the sanctuary. Again, when John saw Jesus
walking he exclaimed, "Behold the Lamb of
God!" John i, 36. This was no new designation
of the expected Messiah, which needed explanation
to be understood by the people who heard him.
They expected in their Messiah a redeemer-a
deliverer. They looked for the antitype of the
types, and the subject of the predictions of their
prophets; and no term so naturally stirred their
inmost souls, in the stretch of their desire for the
advent of the Messiah, as LAMB! LAMB OF GOD!
which was associated in their thoughts with the
paschal lamb, the well-understood type of their





70       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


promised Redeemer. Though some, through
their unbelief, understood not the import of these
declarations of John, others did. Andrew and
his companion caught the inspiration and followed
Jesus. Dwelling with him for a season, they
were assured in their hearts that he was indeed
the Lamb of God; and Andrew hastened to proclaim to Simon, his brother, "We have found the
Messiah." John i, 41. Philip too was brought
to know him; and in ecstasy he exclaimed to
Nathaniel, " We have found him of whom Moses
in the law, and the prophets, did write." John
i, 45. Did write? yes, always so write as to show
him " the Lamb-the Lamb of God!"
The lamb, as a sacrificial offering for sin in
the stead of the guilty sinner, was so incorporated
into their traditional faith, and luminous in the
symbols of their worship and the teachings of
their prophets, that the hearts of the pious Jews
were prepared to hail the appearance of the
"Lamb of God" as the advent of their Redeemer, imperfect as were their views of the nature of
the deliverance he came to procure for them. It
was certainly from a knowledge of a well understood patriarchal faith and usage that Isaac said





CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.


71


to Abraham, "My father, behold the fire and
the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" Gen. xxii, 7. In the response of Abraham,
" My son, God will provide himself a LAMB for a
burnt-ofering," there is a manifestation of the
same truth. The patriarchs worshiped by sacrifice, and the victim was a lamb, as these expressions of Isaac and Abraham indicate. But a clearer indication of God's acceptance of the typical
lamb in the stead of sinful man, appears in his
providing one to be offered in sacrifice in the
place of Isaac. Here righteousness and peace
embraced each other! Sinful man, whom the
righteousness of the law condemned to death, was
spared, and an innocent victim was accepted in
his stead. "Abraham believed, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Rom. iv, 3.
But this was only a type of the availing sacrifice. So the patriarch viewed it. Through it he
was enabled to look to the true offering which
God had promised, "as a lamb slain from the
foundation of the world."  In this was fulfilled
the saying of our Lord to the Jews: "Your
father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he
saw it, and was glad." John viii, 56.





-72       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


These rays of light, typically indicating the
Redeemer of the world as a lamb to be offered
in sacrifice unto God, were concentrated in the
ordinance of the passover, so as to cast a perfect
picture upon the page of the Gospel. The institution was divinely appointed, to be observed
perpetually until the coming in of a better dispensation. The manner of observing it was particularly prescribed and strictly enjoined. And
in all, the lamb was present to the eye, and in
the mind of the worshiping people, as the offering alone acceptable to God.  The faithful,
like Abraham, trusted not in the sacrifice, as
possessing any merit in itself, to atone for sin,
but looked through it as a type to the Lamb of
God, who in the fullness of time should come.
How great was their joy, then, when they heard
John, whom all men held to be a prophet, proclaim, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh
away the sin of the world!"
It was in the passover that God's ancient people celebrated the dying love of the Redeemer
of the world, through the type which, was ordained, as in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper
we are required to do. The two ordinances were





CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.


73


instituted for the same purpose; the one looking
forward to his passion and death to be experienced; the other recognizing him as having suffered upon the cross for our sins, according to the
Scriptures.
It may be profitable for the Christian communicant here to fix in his mind the circumstances
that characterized the Jewish passover, which the
Saviour preserved essentially in the institution of
the Eucharist. It will help to show in what
light the Christian ordinance is to be considered
as a passover; or rather, what, that is peculiar to
the passover, should possess his mind and affect
his heart when he approaches the table of the
Lord. Dr. Waterland, as quoted by Dr. Clarke,
says:
" 1. In the paschal supper the master of the
house took bread, and gave thanks to God, who
had provided it for the sustenance of man. Our
Lord copied the circumstance precisely in the institution of the Eucharist. 2. It was also a custom  for the master of the house to break the
bread, either before or after the benediction offered
to God; that our Lord copied this custom every
reader knows.  3. The master of the house dis




74       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


tributed the broken bread, for it does not appear
that the family were permitted to take it themselves; so our Lord, after having broken the
bread, gave it to the disciples, saying, Take, eat,
etc.  4. In the paschal feast the master was accustomed to take a cup of wine, and pronounce a
benediction to God, or thanksgiving over it, after
which it was termed the cup of blessing. To this
circumstance St. Paul particularly alludes when
he says, 'The cup of blessing which we bless, is
it not the communion of the blood of Christ?'
1 Cor. x, 16.  5. At the institution of the passover it was said, 'The blood shall be to you for
a token upon the houses where you are; and
when I see the blood I will pass over you,' etc.
Exod. xii, 13. The blood was a token or sign of
the covenant, or agreement, then made between
God and them, and ratified partly by pouring
out the blood of the paschal lamb, and partly by
feeding on the flesh of this sacrifice. In the institution of the Eucharist our Lord says: 'This
cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is
shed for you and for many, for the remission of
sins.' The cup, here, is put for the wine; and
covenant is put for the token or sign of the cove




CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.


75


nant. The wine, as representing Christ's blood,
answers to the blood of the passover, which was
typical of the blood of our Lord; and the remission of sins here answers to the passing over
there, and preserving from death.  6. At the
paschal feast there was a declaration of the great
things which God had done for the people; and
our Lord makes use of the Eucharist to declare
and point out the great mercy of God in our redemption, for it shows forth the Lord's death (and,
consequently, all the benefits to be derived from
it) till he himself shall come to judge the world.
7. At the paschal solemnity they were accustomed
to sing a hymn of praise to God; and this part
of their conduct our Lord and his disciples exactly
copied: ' And when they had sung a hymn they
departed,' etc.
" The many resembling circumstances, real and
verbal, abundantly show that the holy Eucharist
was, in a great measure, copied from the paschal
feast, and was intended to supply its place, only
heightening the design and improving the application."
Thus we see how the idea of the passover is
interwoven into the sacrament of the Lord's Sup




7O       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


per, and constitutes an essential part of it. Both
were designed to impress upon the mind, by
visible representations, the great atonement made
by Jesus Christ upon the cross, and its sufficiency
and acceptance as a ground of pardon for guilty
sinners. " He was delivered for our offenses."
He "gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity."  "Who his own self bore
our sins in his own body on the tree."  " He
humbled himself, and became obedient to death,
even the death of the cross."  " He was wounded
for our transgression, bruised for our iniquities."
"He was led as a lamb to the slaughter."
"Christ our PASSOVER is sacrificed for us."  The
great and glorious truth set forth in these and
similar declarations of Scripture, contains the substance of the Gospel. Without it the whole
would be a dead letter; nay, more, it would be
a death-warrant to a world of guilty sinners. As
"the wages of sin," so the end of the unpardoned
sinner, "is death."  Our only hope is the salvation of the Gospel; and salvation is offered to us
only through the merits of our crucified Redeemer
and Saviour. " Neither is there salvation in any
other, for there is none other name given under





CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.


heaven among men whereby we must be saved."
Acts iv, 12.
" Man is naturally a dull and heedless creature,
especially in spiritual things, and has need of the
utmost assistance of his senses, in union with those
expressive rites and ceremonies which the Holy
Scripture, not tradition, has sanctioned, in order
to enable him to arrive at spiritual things through
the medium of earthly similitudes."*
The sacrament of the Lord's Supper, considered
as a passover, is eminently suggestive of those
vital truths which meet the condition of a sinful
creature in his approach to God, to assure him
of grace and salvation on the simple terms of
faith in the blood of atonement, and to reassure
him of the glorious benefits of this rich provision
every time that he turns from the busy cares of
the world, or any other cause of his forgetfulness
of God and his great salvation, to receive a fresh
impression of their power and efficacy, through
the medium of the symbols by which they are
represented.
We cannot dwell too much upon this feature
of the institution. It should at all times fill our
*Dr. Adam Clarke.
6





T8        THE LORD'S SUTPPER.


minds and engage our hearts. We ought to
understand it clearly, fully; to dwell upon it in
our meditations, and  cherish it in all our
thoughts; for in this consists our fitness for
communion, namely, " discerning the Lord's
body."  To eat and drink, without a right perception of the ordinance as a passover, is to eat
and drink unworthily, "' not discerning the Lord's
body." Such is the judgment of the apostle
Paul.
We turn then to the passover. What does
it suggest touching our salvation by the atonement? Here let there be no wandering into the
regions of fancy. Let the imagination be held
in chains. All is of God. All is of divine appointment, and has a bearing upon the great
end-our salvation from sin and death, and ultimate enjoyment of God in heaven.
The institution of the sacrificial ofering of
the lamb sets forth, first, the righteousness of
God in inflicting death upon man, as the penalty
for sin.  The death of the fi-st-born of Egypt
was an exhibition of the righteous judgment of
God. Death followed sin into the world; and
death must ever follow it as its consequence and





CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.


penalty, if it be not pardoned by the righteous
Lawgiver on terms which     he can approve.
None realize this as do those who have the fear
of God upon them, and just views of his holiness
and justice. In their consciences they " consent
to the law, that it is holy, just, and good." They
feel that the sentence of death is written against
the unredeemed sinner. " The soul that sinneth,
it shall die." Ezek. xviii, 4.  Sin and holiness
can never dwell together.   Sin separates the
soul from a holy God, and contains in itself the
principle of that death which is banishment
" from his presence and the glory of his power."
2 Thes. i, 9.  Sin excluded angels from heaven,
and they are held, as a just penalty, "in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." Jude 6. O the deep,
soul-destroying power of sin I How it dishonors
God, by effacing his image from the creatures
he has made, and implanting in them a nature
which "is enmity against him."  And how can
God be reconciled with sin, or with the sinful
beings whose "carnal mind is not subject to his
law, neither indeed can be?" Rom. viii, 7. He
cannot. The judgment and the conscience de




80       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


clare he cannot. The righteousness of the law
must be fulfilled in the sinner, or a substitute.
Death must be inflicted, or the sinner pardoned;
God's holiness and justice must be vindicated.
All were in the condemnation.      Before the
righteous Judge every mouth is stopped, and
all the world becomes guilty. Hence the necessity of a sacrificial offering for sin, or the infliction of the death-penalty upon the sinner.
Abel was influenced by a conviction of this
truth, when he presented as an offering to God,
not the fruit of the ground, as infidel Cain did,
but of the firstlings of his flock, and poured out
its life upon the. altar of sacrifice. It was believed and felt as the living truth of God by all
the patriarchs, who presented their sacrificial
offerings unto the Lord in like manner.
In offering up Isaac, Abraham yielded to the
inmost conviction of his soul, that God was
righteous in exacting what he would, even the
life of sinful man. The whole system of Jewish
sacrifices, and particularly that of the Passover,
speaks the same language: "The soul that sinneth,
it shalldie." Ezek. xviii,4. " Without the shedding
of blood there is no remission." Heb. ix, 22.





CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.


81


Again, the passover suggests the miercy of
God in providing for the salvation of a guilty
world through the atonement. This is the substance of the glad tidings of great joy to all
people, which the angels proclaimed to the shepherds of Judea, when the Saviour was born. In
the day when Adam was excluded from Eden,
and stood before his Judge guilty and condemned, waiting with fear and trembling to
hear the sentence of death pronounced against
him, he was surprised and overwhelmed with
the announcement that a remedy was provided,
which he evidently understood to be a promise
that in the fullness of time, as it is expressed by
the apostle Paul, God would send forth his Son,
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that they
might become the sons of God. Nor was it
less evident to him that this redemption was to
be wrought out by sacrifice, by the death of the
Redeemer. To testify his faith in the validity of
this promise, and keep the truth of it alive in
his heart, he ceased not to offer sacrifices, typifying, in the light of the promise,
" The Lamb for sinners slain."





82       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


Abel, too, and all the patriarchs, offered sacrifices which indicated their faith in the atonement by the sacrificial offering of the promised
Redeemer. These all died in faith, not having
witnessed, in its literal fulfillment, the glorious
event typified by their offerings. The Israelites, on
the eve of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, were commanded to offer up a lamb for
each family, in remembrance of the mercy of
God in sparing their first-born, when those of
the Egyptians were slain. This institution was
called a passover, because God's angel passed
over their houses when he carried death and
misery into the habitations of their unbelieving
and wicked oppressors. This deliverance of the
obedient people of God, upon their offering the
sacrifice he required, by humble faith in his
word, assured them of his acceptance of the
offering it typified, as an atonement for sin, and
a ground of their salvation from the death denounced against them by the law.
Again, the circumstances attending the institution of the passover pointed out, more clearly
than all former sacrifices, the glorious atonement made by Jesus Christ upon the cross. The





CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.


83


victim to be sacrificed was to be a lamb of the
first year, without blemish; showing, typically,
that the redemption of guilty man required the
death of an innocent sufferer; that our iniquities
were laid upon the innocent Lamb of God, who
was without blemish, " holy, harmless, undefiled,
and separate from sinners." Heb. vii, 26. This
transaction also implied a covenant, by which
God engaged to deliver and save his people,
who by faith obediently kept his ordinances.
This covenant was ratified by the blood of
sprinkling.  "They shall take the blood, and
strike it on the two side-posts, and on the
upper door-post of the houses wherein they shall
eat it... And the blood shall be for you a token
upon the houses where ye are; and when I see
the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague
shall not be upon you to destroy you." Exod. xii,
7-13. This sacrificial act, the sprinkling of the
blood of the victim, was the seal of the covenant, and without it there was no promise that
God would spare the Israelites more than the
Egyptians, though the lamb should be slain as it
was commanded. This was clearly typical, and
designed to show that to be saved from death





84:       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


by the atonement made for us by Jesus Christ,
we must have an application of the blood of
Christ made to our hearts and consciences,
through faith in his name.
The lamb was slain, and the blood sprinkled,
not only upon the side-posts and lintels of the
hoises, as a token of God's covenant to those
within, but in after times by the priests upon the
altars of the sanctuary; and the lamb was then
hung up and flayed, and afterward roasted on
a fixture resembling a cross, and the flesh eaten
by the household for whom it was offered in
sacrifice, thus impressing upon the minds and
hearts of the pious, who worshiped God in
this ordinance, a distinct image of the antitype,
the Lamb of God, when he should be offered
up upon the cross for the sins of the world.
It was commanded, too, that the strictest ceremonial purity should be observed in connection
with this ordinance; nothing fermented with
leaven was to be used during the feast; all
leaven was to be removed from the houses of
the people, and a person ceremonially unclean
in any way was disqualified to celebrate this
ordinance; showing, as St. Paul explains it, the





CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.


85


necessity of sincerity of heart and purity of motive, in commemorating the death of our blessed
Redeemer for us.
In a word, the passover, and all the circumstances attending it, so clearly point out the sacrificial offering of Christ upon the cross for our
redemption, that the people of God, under the
dispensation to which it belonged, were enabled
to, see all that was essential in that transaction
to secure the benefits of it in the salvation of
their souls, through the type, as Christians are
in looking upon the transaction itself as past.
Hence the fitness of copying, by our Lord, the
essential features of the ordinance of the passover in the institution of the Eucharist, as a me*morial to show forth his death till he shall come
to judge the world.
Here is the wisdom of God. All that is vital,
and glorious, and life-giving in Christ our Saviour, is so concentrated in the designation, "Lamb
of God," that the simple use of that term brings
into the soul of the humble believer the fullness
of the blessed Gospel, in all its power and glory.
Recognized by his devout followers as possessing
in himself the fullness of all that was typified by





86       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


the paschal offering of the Jews, as a LAMB, he
was more often spoken of, thought of, worshiped,
praised, and adored, than in any other character
employed in the sacred Scriptures to designate
him, in his office work as a Saviour. For this
the typical services of the altar prepared the
hearts of the people. When John proclaimed
to the Jews, "Behold the Lamb of God," all
pious hearts were prepared to respond:
" All hail, the power of Jesus' name I
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown him Lord of all."
Peter, who, after John's proclamation, followed
Jesus with the earnestness which characterized
his lively faith in the atonement, says to the
saints who had been brought to a knowledge of
God, " through sanctification of the spirit unto
obedience, and the sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ," (1 Pet. i, 2:) " Ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things, as
silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from  your fathers, but with
the precious blood of Christ, as a LAMB without
blemish and without spot." 1 Pet. i, 19. Hero





CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.


87


is so clear a reference to the paschal lanib that
none can mistake it. The ordinance required
that the paschal offering should be without
blemish and without spot, that it might faithfully represent the glorious antitype in Christ
Jesus the Lord. In heaven, too, the glory of
his redeeming power is revealed before admiring
angels, through his glorified person, " as a LAMB
that was slain." Rev. v, 12. "I beheld," said
the enraptured John, " and lo, in the midst of
the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the
midst of the elders, stood a LAMB as it had been
slain." Rev. v, 6. "The four beasts and four
and twenty elders fell down before the LAMB;
and they sung a new song, saying, Thou art
worthy to take the book, and to open the seals
thereof; for thou wert slain, and hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood." Rev. v, 8, 9.
The multitude round about the throne, "the
angels," " the four beasts," and "the elders,"
" ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands," cried with a loud voice,
saying, "Worthy is the LAMB that was slain to
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and
strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.





88       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


And every creature which is in heaven, and on
the earth, and under the earth, and such as are
in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I
saying," exclaimed John, "Blessing, and honor,
and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the LAMB, forever
and ever." Rev. v, 12, 13. To him " every knee
shall bow."  As a lamb slain for them, he is
most terrible to the wicked. While the righteous shall sing, " Unto Him that hath loved us
and washed us from our siis in his own blood,
be glory and dominion forever and ever;" the
wicked, " who have trampled upon the blood of
the covenant," and " done despite to the spirit
of grace," will call for " mountains and rocks to
fall upon them, and hide them from the face of
Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the
wrath of the LAMB." Rev. vi, 16. Are the redeemed in heaven distinguished as " arrayed in
white robes?"  They "have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the
LAMB." Rev. vii, 14. Do they appear crowned
with laurels, as conquerors of a vanquished foe?
" They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb."
Rev. xii, 11. Do they " stand upon the sea of





CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.


89


glass mingled with fire, having gotten the victory
over the beast, and over his image, and over his
marl, and over the number of his name?" With
the harps of God in their hands, " they sing the
song of Moses the servant of God, and the song
of the LAMB." Rev. xv, 2, 3. This is a harmonious song. It is salvation unto God and the
LAMB.    Salvation through the blood of atonement, prefigured by the paschal offering under
the Mosaic dispensation, and fulfilled in the passion and death of Christ, who offered himself
once without spot unto God, as a satisfactory
atonement for a guilty world.
What a world of meaning there is in that
word, " LAMB"-" LAMB OF GOD!"     It carries
thought back to the first promise of a Redeemer
in the garden, and forward to the halleluiahs of
the redeemed in heaven, around the eternal
throne.  It concentrates, in the reflection of a
moment, the whole living truth of God's revelation to man, bearing upon his salvation. The
atonement, the sprinkling of blood, expiation of
guilt, and purification from defilement, victory
over sin and eternal deliverance from its penalty,
all come up into the mind, as the result of the





90       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


offering of the Lamb of God as a sacrifice for us.
What then can be more appropriate, and what
more interesting to dwell uponin our thoughts, than
that this simple means of reflecting such a flood
of living light upon our souls, as in a moment,
should be constituted an essential part of the
sacrament, as it is when viewed in the light of
a passover? The broken body and shed blood
of the crucified Redeemer, represented by the
symbols of the broken bread and the wine
poured out, as prescribed by the Saviour, as
typified by the offering of the paschal lamb
under the law, furnish the devout recipient of
these symbols a most lively view of the great
atonement made for him, and the spiritual benefits he may derive from it.  If he be in the
right frame of spirit; if his heart and mind be
abstracted from the world, as they should be,
what a feast to the soul may he enjoy here. All
absorbed in pious meditation upon the glorious
truths thus brought before him, he feels as in
the immediate presence of his God, beholding
his wondrous work in man's salvation. He is
subdued, and his heart melted, at the thought
that this was done for him; though it cost the





CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.


91


nlood and life of the Son of God, it was done
for him, and for all the world. As by faith he
views the atoning victim upon the cross, he is
led to exclaim:
' O the Lamb, the bleeding Lamb!
The Lamb on Calvary;
The Lamb was slain, but liveth again,
To intercede for me!"
There is another idea, suggested by the paschal
character of the Lord's Supper, which communicants may profitably consider.   The passover
was a sacrifice and the seal of a covenant. God
covenanted to spare the first-born of the Israelites, only on condition that they should observe
the ordinance obediently, and with faith in him,
and cause the sprinkling of the blood of the
victim to be made, in all respects, as he commanded them. By this were the parties bound
in covenant, and neglect on the part of the people to fulfill all that was required, being a violation of the covenant, was attended by a forfeiture
of the blessings promised. In the perpetuity of
it, God covenanted to be their God, and they to
be his people. It was on this wise that they
entered into covenant with God by sacrifice:





92       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


The offerings being made, " Moses took half of
the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the
blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the
book of the covenant, and read in the audience
of the people: and they said, All that the Lord
hath said will we do, and be obedient. And
Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the
people, and said, Behold, the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words." Exod. xxiv, 6-8. This
was the blood of the Old Testament. Of the
wine which Christ poured out and gave to his disciples to drink, representing his own precious
blood, he said: " This is my blood of the New
Testament, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins." Matt. xxvi, 28.
Though the sacrament is not a sacrifice, it represents a sacrifice, even the sacrifice of the blood
of Christ; and we are required to receive it in
the spirit of sacrifice, giving ourselves away
wholly unto him. Even this offering can be acceptable only by being sprinkled with the blood
of the covenant. This we must have to profit
by the ordinance. But how great is the blessing
it conveys, accompanied by the blood of sprink




CONSIDERED AS A PASSOVER.


93


ling! It is more than a mere formal act of external worship. It is a feast of fat things to the
soul. It has the covenant promise of a covenantkeeping God to minister spiritual comfort and
edification to the penitent, believing recipient.
Why may we not then, with good hope of receiving a positive blessing, " draw near with faith,
and receive this holy sacrament to our comfort?"
Surely we may. God, who has called us thereunto, is faithful, who also will fulfill his promise
to us. Receiving the broken bread as a representation of the broken body of Christ, we may
"feed  on him   in our hearts by faith, with
thanksgiving."  Faith in the declaration he has
made: "I am the living bread which came down
from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he
shall live forever: and the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the
world. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, hath eternal life; for my flesh is meat
indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." John vi,
51, 54, 55. By faith in the heart may, this mystical
representation of the life-giving power of the
sacrificial offering of Christ, be made a means
of communicating its efficacy to our souls. We
7





94:         THE LORD'S SUPPER.
may approach the table of the Lord, then, with
the expectation of receiving a positive blessing,
imparting new life and vigor to our souls. With
such an expectation, by faith in our hearts, we
ought at all times to approach it. Then would
it always be a means of spiritual edification to us.





CONSIDERED AS A EUGHARIST.


95


CHAPTER VI.
THE LORD'S SUPPER CONSIDERED AS A EUCHARIST.
THIS term was early and almost universally
used by Christians to designate the Lord's Supper. For this they had undoubtedly a satisfactory
reason. The institution itself, and the design of
it, both suggest the propriety of celebrating it in
the spirit of praise and thanksgiving. At the
very commencement Jesus "took bread, AND
GAVE THANKS, and brake it, and gave unto them
saying, "This is my body which is given for
you." Luke xxii, 19. At the conclusion they
t sung a hymn." Mark xiv, 26.
This eucharistic element was incorporated in
the passover, and very appropriately copied in
the institution of the sacrament. As a part of
the celebration of the feast of the passover, the
paschal hymn was sung. It was full of praise
and thanksgiving. " Praise ye the Lord. Praise,
O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the
Lord." Thus, in the highest strains of joyous





96       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


song, God's ancient people magnified his glorious
name in celebrating the paschal feast. They recounted his mercies, their deliverance out of
Egypt, his choosing Judah for a sanctuary, dividing the flood for their passage to the land of
promise, and for turning " the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters."
Ps. cxiv, 8. Much more did they praise him for
spiritual blessings. Each joined heartily in the
sacred choir as the hallel proceeded: "I love the
Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my
supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear
unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long
as I live. The sorrows of death compassed me,
and the pains of hell gat hold upon me; I found
trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the
name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful: the Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he
helped me." Ps. cxvi, 1-6.
Such expressions of praise were eminently suitable for the occasion. While the sacrifice of the
victim  presented to their minds the atonement
which was provided for man, to expiate his guilt





CONSIDERED AS A EUCHARIST.


97


and save him from eternal death. A realization
of the benefits of the atonement in bringing them
through the bitter pangs of repentance to the
enjoyment of the love and favor of God, was
suitably expressed by an appropriate song of
praise.
And why should we not celebrate the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the established memorial of God's infinite love to man in giving his
Son to die for him, and the pledge of his favor
to all who piously observe it, with thanksgiving
and praise? "Rejoicing always" is consistent
with the most humiliating sense of our unworthiness as sinners saved by grace; and when is it
more fitting that we should be deeply penetrated
with such a sense of our condition as the recipients of the grace of God than while partaking
of the sacred symbols of divine love in the passion
and death of Christ, by which all blessings in this
and the world to come are procured for us?
Mystics may dream of a higher spiritual life by
closing up every avenue of their hearts against
the exercise of joyful emotions. But we "have
not so learned Christ."  " Blessed are the people
that know the joyful sound." Psa. lxxxix, 15.





08       THE LORD'S SUPPER.


Angels proclaimed the advent of Christ's humiliation with songs of praise. Saints are exhorted
to "rejoice evermore." 1 Thess. v, 16. Spiritual
delight is the companion of holiness, and flows
from  it as a stream  from  its fountain. With
thanksgiving, then, we may appropriately celebrate the love of Christ in giving himself a ransom for us. What reason there is in the great
and glorious things set forth by this ordinance to
excite our gratitude and inspire us with the spirit
of praise.
"This eucharistic feast
Our every want supplies,
And still we by his death are blest,
And share his sacrifice."
If rightly observed it is eminently calculated to.heighten our sense of gratitude, and qualify us the
better to strengthen our hearts in this grace, by
expressing  it in  God's own   appointed way.
" What shall I render unto the Lord for all his
benefits toward me?  I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I
will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the
presence of all his people." Psa. cxvi, 12-14. So
sung the people of Israel at their paschal feast.





CONSIDERED AS A EUCHARIST.


99


So should his spiritual Israel celebrate his goodness and mercy at the altar of sacrifice under the
new and better covenant. Of all his benefits,
none move and stir the inmost soul of the pious
believer to such heartfelt gratitude and thankfulness as his pardoning mercy and justifying grace.
At every remembrance of the bitterness of his
anguish, his "trouble and sorrow," under a sense
of his guilt and pollution, and of the peace and
joy which filled his soul when by faith he was
enabled to receive Christ as his Saviour, his exulting heart was wont to exclaim, "I love the
Lord because he hath heard my voice and my
supplications." "God forbid that I should glory,
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto
the world." Gal. vi, 14. As the whole Church
in the day of God's gracious visitation, so each
individual member of it, under the influence of
his Spirit, cries out from the fullness of his
overflowing soul: "0 Lord, I will praise thee:
though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is
turned away, and thou comfortest me. Behold,
God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be
afraid: for the. Lord JETIOVAH is my strength





100


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


and my song; he also is become my salvation."
Isa. xii, 1-3. At the Lord's table, let us remember, we make our eucharistic offering to him
in the way he has appointed, and which he will
approve. Be it thy care then, Christian, to carry
the offering with thee. Not only a contrite spirit
for all thy sins and shortcomings, to present at
the mercy-seat for pardon through the atoning
merits of the crucified Redeemer; but a heart
full of faith and joy, to declare the goodness and
mercy of God, and to sing his praise. This God
will approve, and he will strengthen thy heart to
love and praise him still more and more. Let
none think that it is a vain thing thus to serve
God in this ordinance. Only will he reject thy
offering when it is polluted or defective. " In
every place incense shall be offered unto my
name, and a pure offering," saith the Lord.
"But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The
table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible." Mal. i, 12.
Such offerings and such a spirit cannot be acceptable to God. But a complete offering, a heartuniting faith in the atonement for the remission
of sins, and love and gratitude for all our bless





CONSIDERED AS A EUCHARIST.       101
ings received through the atonement, will be accepted, and rendered by a covenant-keeping God
a means of spiritual edification to our souls. A
living faith in the efficacy of the blood of Christ
to cleanse fiom sin, and a spirit of devout praise
and thanksgiving for all our mercies, are the
spiritual tithes which we must bring in order to
be accepted. " Prove me now therewith, saith
the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that
there shall not be room enough to receive it."
Mal. iii, 10.





102


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


CHAPTER VII.
THE LORD'S SUPPER CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION,
THE remarks of Dr. Adam Clarke on this point
are brief, but highly appropriate and instructive.
"In 1 Cor. x, 16, the Eucharist is called the
communion of the body and blood of Christ. As
the term KoLvwvca signifies not only communion
or fellowship, but participation, it evidently signifies that the faithful partakers had thereby
fellowship or communion with the Lord Jesus,
being made partakers of the benefits of his passion
and death; so that as truly as their bodies were
made partakers of, and were nourished by, the
bread and wine, so truly were their souls made
partakers of the grace, mind, and spirit of the
Lord Jesus, so that they diwelt in God, and God
in them; -were one with God, and God with
them."
He quotes Suicer as saying "that this term
meant communion or participation, in reference
to the Eucharist: 1. Because of the union of





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.        103
the faithful with Christ and with each other. 2.
Because believers are thereby not only united
to Christ, but are also made partakers of his
kingdom. 3. Because through this fellowship
or communion they are deemed worthy of partaking of all that appertains to Christ."
" In the confession of faith of the Oriental
Churches, quoted by him," he adds, "we find the
following remarkable exposition of this communion or participation
"' The holy communion is a symbol of our being
incorporated or engrafted in the incarnated Son
and Word of God, by which engrafting we are
delivered from eternal death; for, as the root is
sound and always flourishing, it is not possible
that the branches united with it should not be
sound and ever verdant.'
"A twofold communion is here pointed out:
1. Communion with Christ. 2. Communion
with each other. For, 1, The branches, to continue
flourishing, must have communion with the root;
that is, must be nourished by those very juices
imbibed by the root; and, 2, As the branches,
being equally partakers of the root, have their
common support and verdure from it, so believ




104


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


ers, being all equally united to Christ, and deriv
ing all their nourishment and support from him,
stand in the same relation to each other as the
branches do to the same tree. This is the purport of the following words of our blessed Lord
'I am the vine, ye are the branches.... I pray
for them that they may be one, even as thou
Father art in me, and I in thee. I in them and
thou in me, that they may be made perfect in
one.' -Clarke on the Eucharist.
With all this communicants should be deeply
impressed in their approaches to the Lord's table.
The benefits procured for us by the broken body
and shed blood of our adorable Redeemer, are
more than the mere pardon of our sins. Through
them we are, in the language of the Apostle
Peter, "1made partakers of the divine nature."
2 Peter i, 4. The end of St. Paul's earnest
prayer for the Ephesians was, "that they might
be filled with all the fullness of God." Eph. iii,
19. This is "the fellowship of the mystery
which from the beginning of the world hath been
hid in God." Eph. iii, 9. Herein also consist
" the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is
Christ in us, the hope of glory." Col. i, 27.





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.       105
"Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and
with his Son Jesus Christ." John i, 3; for "he
that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." 1 Cor.
vi, 17.
This fellowship, let it be remembered, is predicated of only the living branches in the mystical
olive-tree. Their spirit and life they draw from
the root. "For if the first-fruit be holy, the lump
also is holy; and if the root be holy, so are the
branches." Rom. xi, 16. It is only by faith that
the living branches abide in the tree, and thus
partake of the "root and fatness" of it.
The communion which the Redeemer of the
world condescends to hold with impoverished
mortals, is indicated by his declaration to the
Church of the Laodiceans: " Behold, I stand at
the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice,
and open the door, I will come in to him, and
will sup with him, and he with me." Rev. iii, 20.
Glorious privilege to an unequal party, raised to
fellowship and communion by condescending
goodness I It is also set forth in the parable of
the feast in the Gospel. Those prepared with a
wedding garment were honored as guests, and
participated in the communion to which they





106


TEE LORD'S SUPPER.


were admitted at their Lord's table. Though
they were unworthy and degraded while clothed
in the rags and filth of their sinful natures, renovated by divine power and grace, and clothed
with " robes washed and made white in the
blood of the Lamb," (Rev. vii, 14,) they were
made welcome guests at his marriage supper.
Their communion was a manifestation of their
fellowship; but the supper was provided by the
Lord of the feast, and furnished for the benefit
of the participants. The feast, to supply their
wants and save them from death, was more to
them than even the honor of fellowship to which
they were exalted. At least, fellowship without
participation would avail little to starving, perishing men. " Blessed are they that shall eat bread
in the kingdom of God." Luke xiv, 15. "Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." Matt. v, 6.
From all these forms of expression, we learn, that
as the life of the body is preserved by the food
suited to our animal nature, so is the life of the
soul preserved by the spiritual food which God
has provided for it; and as our physical nature
is supported and refreshed by a rich and plentiful





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.        107
feast, so is our spiritual being revived and
strengthened by the bread and wine of the kingdom.
But let us not be deceived by confounding the
ordinance with the grace it is designed to represent. The bread and wine are symbols only of
the broken body and shed blood of the adorable
Redeemer. In receiving these symbols we have
the aid of our senses, our seeing and tasting, to
help our faith in receiving the spiritual nourishment they are designed to represent. The outward act of participation of the elements is but a
sign of the grace received through faith in the
atonement. And as it is of God's own appointment, may we not expect that the ordinance will
be rendered a means of imparting such grace for
the nourishment of our souls when piously observed? Hear the Master of the feast say,
"Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that
which is good, and let your soul delight itself in
fatness." Isa. Iv, 2. "The meek shall eat and
be satisfied; they shall praise the Lord that seek
him; your hearts shall live forever." Ps. xxii, 26.
Live by the communion you have with " Christ
who is our life." Col. iii, 4. Live by virtue of





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the grace he communicates-the "life which is
hid with Christ in God." Col. iii, 3. It is by
this spiritual life, hidden with Christ in God, as
the life of the branch is hidden in the tree, that
we are preserved and nourished in our communion
with Him who is life itself, and the source of life
to all who enjoy it.
Let none then bedeluded by the absurdity of
the Church of Rome, which maintains that the
life-giving virtue and grace which saves and edifies the communicant is in the consecrated wafer;
and that it saves any to whom the priest gives it
with intention, on his part, to invest it with that
virtue and grace, (except they be guilty of mortal
sin,) without repentance, or faith, or good intentions, or purpose to lead new lives, or anything
else required by the word of God, in those who
receive it.
"This notion," to adopt the language of the profound and discriminating Richard Watson, "represents the sacraments as a mere charm, the use
of which, being totally disjoined from   every
mental exercise, cannot be regarded as a reasonable service. It gives men the hope of receiving,
by the use of a mere charm, a full participation





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.         109
of the grace of God, although they continue to
indulge in that very large class of sins to which
the accommodating morality of the Church of
Rome extends the name of venial; and yet it
makes this high privilege entirely dependent
upon the intention of another, who, although he
performs all the outward acts which belong to
the sacrament, may, if he chooses, withhold the
communication of that physical virtue without
which the sacrament is of none avail."- Watson's
Dictionary; Art. Sacrament.
With equal earnestness we would urge communicants not to rest in the extremely low views
respecting the sacrament which are entertained
by those who reject the atonement. Considering
it as a memorial by which the remembrance of
past events is revived in our minds, which tends
to cherish pious sentiments, they are right as far
as they go. But repudiating the sacramental
aspects of the ordinance, they rob it of its chief
excellence, and render it inefficacious in what is
most essential to it. The effect of it is, according
to their views, purely moral, and contributes, by
its moral influence, to the improvement of those
who observe it in the same manner with reading
8





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the Scriptures, social conference with pious peo
pie, or any other exercise leading the mind to a
contemplation of religious subjects.
But to enjoy all the benefits it is designed to
convey, let the communicant embrace in his view
of it all that was designed by the great Master
in instituting it. Ceremonies may be adopted
by Christians which contribute to their moral
and spiritual improvement; and these may vary
in different communities and with different persons, as circumstances may dictate. " But no
rite which is not ordained by God can be conceived to be a seal of his promise, or pledge of any
event that depends on his good pleasure. Hence,
that the rite may come up to our idea of a sacrament, we require in it, not merely a vague and
general resemblance between the external matter
which is the visible substance of the rite, and the
thing thereby signified, but also words of institution, and a promise by which the two are connected together."-Rev. R. Watson.
Such is the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
It was instituted in form; that form was simple
and specific, prescribing acts and words to be observed till the coming of the Son of man to judge





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.        111
the world. "THIS do," said he, "in remembrance of me."  Here is the obligation enjoined.
To obey is our duty; to obey in form, with unreserved. confidence; to obey because it is enjoined by our Lord and Master, who has made
our obedience a test of our love to him, and connected with it a promise of his love and favor.
"If any man love me he will keep my words;
and my Father will love him, and we will come
unto him and make our abode with him." John
xiv, 23.
The sacrament rec6ived may, indeed, like the
Gospel preached, fail to produce the designed
effect, not being mixed with faith in them that
receive it. But received by faith-faith in the
atonement made by Jesus Christ upon the cross,
which the symbols used in the ordinance represent, and in his pledge to render the ordinance a
means of communicating spiritual influence to the
soul-it will profit them. It will be to them " a
feast of fat things." Their souls will be refreshed
and edified in communing with their Lord. Let
none doubt it. Let all come to this feast expecting a blessing. Let them  look upon it as a
sacramental ordinance, instituted by their cruci




112


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fled Redeemer for their spiritual edification, having his pledge that it shall be blessed to those who
rightly observe it, and rely upon the word of his
promise that he " will sup with them, and they
with him."
Christians! this is your privilege. When you
hear the words pronounced, " Take and eat this
in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and
feed on him in thy heart by faith with thanksgiving," let them sink down deep into your soul.
Digest them in your thoughts, and impress them
on your minds.. Meditate upon them with prayer
and supplication, that you may fully understand
their import, and receive the grace which such
faith brings into the soul. Then shall you know
the true meaning of St. Paul's. words: " The cup
of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which
we break, is it not the communion of the body
of Christ?" 1 Cor. x, 16. Then shall you experience a realization of the promise, " And my
Father will love him, and we will come unto
him, and make our abode.with him." John
xiv, 23. Then will you be enabled to say with
the poet:





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.         113
" My Redeemer to know, to feel his blood flow;
This is life everlasting, 'tis heaven below."
Again, the zest of a feast depends essentially upon the mutual love and confidence of the parties
in communion. It must be believed and felt
that the welcome on the part of the provider is
sincere and hearty, and that there is no want of
love and confidence, no secret cause of disaffection to interrupt a full and unreserved flow of
mutual affection, on the part of the guests admitted to commune with him. Who would
relish a feast with enmity in his heart against the
provider, or enjoy pleasure by communing with
him, having no fellowship for him? None; not
even voluptuous pleasure-takers. Men of the
world, conscious of the embarrassment and confusion that such a cause of unfitness to participate
in a feast provided for the good cheer of select
friends, with enmity in their hearts against the
provider of it, could not wish to be guests, nor
enjoy the pleasure such an entertainment is designed to give, if they were admitted.
How much more must any want of affection to
Christ, or cause of unreconciliation to him in us,
Bhut us out from the spiritual delights which they





114A


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have, whose communion of soul is uninterrupted
by any such cause.? The man without the wedding garment may have entered the feast
thoughtlessly, as one may approach the Lord's
table without considering the consequence of
this want of fitness; or, he may have done it
recklessly, to challenge the right and integrity
of the Lord who provided it, in exacting discriminating qualifications in the guests. But it was
not possible for him to suippose that he could
participate in the delights which unrestrained
fellowship and communion with the Master would
afford. When he was detected, therefore, he was
speechless.
To have communion with Christ, then, and
participate in the benefits of such communion,
we must have love to him.    This we cannot
have while we love the world. "If any man
love the world, the love of the Father is not in
him." 1 John ii, 15. We must cast out of our
hearts the love of the world, and every unholy
desire. Any wrong temper or improper affection cannot be concealed from the eye of our
heart-searching Lord and Saviour.   "If our
heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart,





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.       115
and knoweth all things." 1 John iii, 20. How
can we, condemned in our own hearts, and condemned by the holy and blessed God, enjoy a
feast of communion with him. It deprives us
of all spiritual freedom, which is essential to a
free exercise of our confiding affections in his presence, and a free flow of feeling in our communion with him.
But pure love to our Lord and Master, and
especially when this is accompanied with the
witness of the Spirit that we are accepted of him
and adopted into the family of God, prepares us
to approach his table with the confidence and
freedom of children, and to commune with him
without embarrassment or restraint. " Beloved,
if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask,
we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing
in his sight. And this is his commandment, that
we should believe on the name of his son Jesus
Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that [thus] keepeth his
commandments, dwelleth in him, and he in him.
And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by





116


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the Spirit which he hath given us." 1 John iii,
21-24. "To as many as received him, [Christ,] to
them gave he power to become the sons of
God;" i.e., the privileges or freedom of the sons
of God. John i, 12.
Our communion with Christ, of which this
ordinance is a sign, is again indicated by the
figure of a family or household, of which lie is
the head. This is a spiritual household.  Its
spirit and temper are heavenly.  "For Moses
verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant;
but Christ as a son over his own house; whose
house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and
the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end."
Heb. iii, 5, 6. "Now, therefore, ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with
the saints, and of the household of God." Eph.
ii, 19. " For this cause I bow my knees unto
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom
the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
that he would grant you, according to the riches
of his glory, to be strengthened with might by
his Spirit in the inner man." Eph. iii, 14-16.
What a theme for devout contemplation! A
household! a family! a heavenly-minded fra




CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.         117
ternity, of one heart and one soul, united to
celebrate the love 6f Him who gave himself for
their redemption, in his presence, and at a feast
of his own providing! The symbols that are
presented to the eye and the taste represent the
sacrificial offering which was the price of the
purchased possession, and are a sign of the
riches of the grace received through faith in
him; and a realization of that grace by participation in communion with him who is Head over
all, gives them to feel that they are strengthened
with might by his Spirit in the inner man
Well said the Psalmist: "The Lord is the
strength of my heart, and my portion forever."
Psa. lxvii, 26.  "They go from     strength to
strength; every one of them in Zion appeareth
before God." Psa. lxxxiv, 7. "Blessed are they
that dwell in thy house: blessed is the man whose
strength is in thee." Psa. lxxxiv, 4, 5. "My soul
longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the
Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the
living God." Psa. lxxxiv, 2. " All my springs
are in thee." Psa. lxxxvii, 7.
" Thou art the Sea of Love,
Where all my pleasures roll;





118


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The circle where my passions move,
And center of my soul."
Again, the communion of Christians with
Christ is beautifully and forcibly illustrated by
the sympathy that subsists between the members and the head of the human body. " Now
ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular." 1 Cor. xii, 27.  " And he [Christ] is
the head of the body, the Church." Col. i, 15.
God the Father "hath put all things under his
feet, and gave him to be the head over all things
to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of
him that filleth all in all." Eph. i, 22. "In
him," our head, " dwelleth all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily." Col. ii, 9. He is the source
of life, and wisdom, and purity, and spiritual
nourishment to the Church, the living members
of his mystical body. " In him," in the strictest
and purest sense, they " live, and move, and
have their being." Acts xvii, 18. And true believers feel what John said respecting him as the
fountain of grace and life to those who dwell in
him.   " Of his fullness have all we received,
and grace for grace." John i, 16. He who "is
the head of the Church" is " the Saviour of the





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.       119
body." Eph. v, 23. By their union with him,
the members of the body are brought into sympathy with their Head, and live in his life. Thus
he becomes their salvation and their strength.
He "from whom the whole body fitly joined
together and compacted by that which every
joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in
love," communicates to every member his own
life-giving energy and the joy of his salvation.
Thus we are constituted one with him, and one
in him as our IHead. And our communion is indicated by the sympathy and affection which
subsists between the head and the members of
the body.
But "if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature." 2 Cor. v, 17. He has been brought
into this glorious union with Christ by the
"kindness and love of God his Saviour," who,
" according to his mercy saved him, by the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Ghost." Tit. iii, 4, 5.
Thus the believer sees and feels that his new
life and all his spiritual enjoyments are procured





120


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by the blood of atonement, shed upon the cross
for him and for many, for the remission of sins.
All this he owes to the love of his crucified
Redeemer, who bore the sins of many; who
was ' wounded for our transgressions, and
bruised for our iniquities;" by whose " stripes
we are healed."  " Behold what manner of love
the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God." 1 John iii, 1.
What manner of love is this? Where is the
like?  That he should first give his son to die,
that our sins might be forgiven, and we become
the sons of God, and then forgive our sins, and
adopt us, as fellow-heirs with the saints to the
spiritual inheritance he has provided for them
that love him. Was ever love like this?
" Behold the Saviour of mankind,
Nailed to the shameful tree;
How vast the love that him inclined
To bleed and die for me."
All this the Christian communicant sees and
feels, as he communes with Christ by the Spirit.
His soul cleaves to its life-giving head. He says
in his heart, " I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me;





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.       121
and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and
gave himself for me!" Gal. ii, 20. "0 my soul!
what shall I render to the Lord for this unspeakl
able gift? and what for his condescending goodness
in taking me into favor with himself, and uniting
me to himself, as a member in his own body, to
live by his life, and enjoy the bliss of communion with him?"  "This is my beloved, and this
is my friend." Cant. v, 16. "I am my beloved's,
and his desire is toward me." Cant. vii, 10.
"My beloved is mine, and I am his." "I sat
down under his shadow with great delight, and
his fruit was sweet to my taste; he brought me
to the banqueting house, and his banner over
me was love." Cant. ii, 3, 4. He says to his
guests, "Eat, 0 friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, 0 beloved." Cant. v, 1. O what fullness!
what freeness! A fountain is open for sin and
uncleanness. Grace, mercy, and peace are abundantly given to refresh the famishing souls of
men. This is the spiritual communion Christian
believers have with Christ, and which is signified
by the symbols of his death in the sacrament.
Let it be borne in mind, then, that, in the lan




122


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guage of the articles of religion as professed by
Protestant Christians generally, "Sacraments,
ordained of Christ, are not only badges or
tokens of Christian men's profession, but-rather
they are certain signs of grace, and God's goodwill toward us, by the which he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but
also strengthen and confirm our faith in him."
Christian reader, have you not solemnly affirmed, " I believe in the communion of saints?"
This is the communion of saints with Christ their
Lord and Redeemer. How delightfully precious
is it to the soul hungering and thirsting after
righteousness. And when may we hope to experience it in its fullness, if not in the use of the
means he has ordained for the very purpose of
communicating it to us?  Surely, a lively faith
in him, and delight in communion with him,
should inspire us with an earnest desire to participate in this glorious privilege as  i,,tn as an
opportunity offers:
1" Who thus our faith employ,
His sufferings to record,
E'en now we mournfully enjoy
CommUnION with our Lord."





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.          123
But the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is
Aeld as a COMMUNION, again, because it is a
token of the fellowship of those who are partakers of it. Their fellowship is a spiritual fellowship. Being born of the Spirit, "they are all
one in Christ Jesus." Gal. iii, 18. As the
branches in the tree all derive their nutriment
in common from the tree, and are partakers of
its substance and nature, so the branches in
Christ Jesus partake of his spirit, and are of one
spirit in him. No truth touching experimental
religion is more largely and impressively dwelt
upon in the Scriptures than this: "If we walk in
the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
onfe with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ
his son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John i, 7.
This fellowship is founded in love. Love is
its source and its bond. It is love of a peculiar
kind-BROTHERLY.LOVE; such love as is faintly
indicated by that which glows in the bosoms
of affectionate brothers and sisters, children of
the same parents. There may be love, in its
nature and degree, for others; but brotherly love
knows no other like itself. It is deep, ardent,
and effective, while a consciousness of the exist




124


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


ence of the relation by which it is produced, remains uninterrupted by any cause of disaffection.
This brotherly love is an element, a part and
parcel, of the new life we receive by regeneration. "We know that we have passed from
death unto life, because we love the brethren,"
1 John iii, 14; " and every one that [thus] loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God." 1 John
iv, 7. This is brotherly love, which is a controlling affection in the hearts of all who are
born of God, and is manifested in their lives,
the distinguishing mark which separates them
from the world. And this is the source of that
fellowship which their communion as Christians
implies.
With this new spiritual nature, and new classification, the children of God are required to
come out from the world and be separate; to
unite with their own, as the flock of Christ, or
members of the household of God, and to show
themselves to be "a peculiar people."  This is
most reasonable and proper; first, to confess their
Lord, and the love they have to him, and also
to show that they have renounced the world as
unworthy of their affections, and united in love





CONSIDERED AS A COMMIUNION.        125
and fellowship to seek "the things which are
above." Col. iii, 1. Home is the place for children, whose affections draw them to parents and
brethren. Strangers may not intermeddle with its
delights. "Because ye are not of the world, but
I have chosen you out of the world," said Christ,
"therefore the world hateth you." John xv, 19.
" Seeing," therefore, that "ye have purified your
souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit,
unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye
love one another with a pure heart, fervently:
being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever." 1 Peter i, 22, 23.
This love to God and his people, implanted in
the souls of all his children by the Holy Spirit,
distinguishes them  as brethren in the highest
and purest sense of that term, and brings them
into a fellowship and communion which no other
force in our moral or social nature can produce.
While other social affinities are ruptured by impulses of passion, and the ties of love and friendship are severed by slight causes, the love that
rules in the hearts of God's children "is not
easily provoked, beareth all things, never faileth."
9





126


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


1 Cor. xiii,'5, 7, 8. And in a community where all
possess it, there is no abatement of its ardor, for
it "thinketh. no evil."  While they continue to
fulfill the injunction of the Apostle, " Let love be
without dissimulation; be kindly affectioned one
to another, with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another," (Rom. xii, 9,) the holy
flame will increase more and more, until their
hearts are "knit together in love," and they, as
members of the body of Christ, " holding the
Head, from  which all the body, by joints and
bands having nourishment ministered, and knit
together, increaseth with the increase of God."
Col. ii, 2, 19.
These are the representatives of Christ upon
earth, " whereunto they were appointed a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
peculiar people; that they should show forth the
praises of him who hath called them out of darkness into his marvelous light." 1 Peter ii, 9.
They are the "holy Catholic Church" in its militant state; "the light of the 'world," reflecting
the glory of the Lord who is their light; "a
city that is set on a hill, which cannot be hid."
Matt. v, 14.





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.        127
They are branches in the living vine, which
bear fruit-the fruit of the Spirit, which is "love,
oy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance." Gal. v, 22, 23.
They "live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit."
Gal. v, 25. They are the exponents of the wisdom
which is from  above, "pure, peaceable, gentle,
easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good
fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.'
James iii, 17. "Ye shall know them   by their
fruits." Matt. vii, 16.
How strongly marked, in this world of malicious passions and discordant strife, is this
brotherhood of Christians, by the Spirit that
dwelleth in them. O what sweetness, gentleness, and kindly affections it diffuses through
the whole body, producing peace and happiness
in every part of it. It is a test of the union of
the members with their Head, who was "meek
and lowly," and full of love."  " By this shall
all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye
have love one to another." John xiii, 35.
This principle of "brotherly love" is, as has
been said, the result of that change wrought in us
by the Holy Ghost, which is denominated regene




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ration, or the new birth.  By nature we have it
not; and in our unregenerate state we find in our
hearts no principle which so draws us into fellowship with others as to become a bond of union.
But the experience of all who are truly born of
God attests the truth of this remark, that when
" the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by
the Holy Ghost," all who bear the image of the
Saviour, and breathe his spirit, whether they be
rich or poor, bond or free, companion or stranger,
are embraced in the arms of their affection, and
beloved with an ardor and tenderness unknown
to the unregenerated heart.
It is a peculiar quality of this principle of love,
to unite in one all who possess it, and to bring
them together to express it, in obedience to the
commandments and ordinances of the Ldrd. " I
will give them one heart," saith the Lord, " and
I will put a new spirit within them; and I will
take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will
give them a heart of flesh; that they may walk
in my statutes and keep mine ordinances, and
do them; and they shall be my people, and I
will be their God." Ezek. xi, 19, 20.
One heart! a tender heart of flesh I What a





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.        129
description of the tender love of Christians!
Heart melting into heart! Hearts running together like so many drops of water! Nay,
more, "The multitude of them    that believed
were of ONE HEART and ONE SOUL." Acts iv,
32.   Sin hardens the heart and alienates the
affections. From the day of Cain till now, sin
has generated hatred, and malice, and envy; has
set the heart of man against his brother. It has
made foes of the members of the same household. Sin, in its tendency, divides and keeps
asunder the hearts of men. It incrusts them in
its own obdurate nature, and individualizes and
isolates them, like cold pebbles of marble. Paul
describes sinners as " covenant-breakers, without
natural affection, implacable, unmerciful." Rom.
i, 31. They have no spirit of love, no tenderness of affection within them, to unite and cement
them together. This truth the converted man
has realized in his own experience. When he
saw the wickedness of his heart, as a sinner, he
felt that it was cold, unmoved by love and sympathy, and indulged in enmity against others.
Perhaps it was the last thing he overcame, in
his struggle for deliverance from the guilt and





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dominion of sin, the anger he harbored in his
bosom against some fellow-being.  But when
grace subdued that enmity of heart, and filled
him with the love of Christ, a change was
wrought which melted the whole soul into sym
pathy and tenderness, and drew it by an overwhelming influence into communion with kindred spirits.
This is brotherly love. It is breathed in the
affectionate spirit, and expressed in the endearing
language which the disciples of Christ only can
fully appreciate in their communion with each
other. Saul of Tarsus, hardened 1" through the
deceitfulness of sin," witnessed, unmoved, the
cruel death of pious Stephen; and "yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the
disciples of the Lord," obtained letters from the
high priest, that " if he found any of this way,"
he might 1" bring them  bound to Jerusalem;"
" and," he says, "when they were put to death,
I gave my voice against them. And I punished
them  oft in every synagogue, and compelled
them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad
against them, I persecuted them   even unto
strange cities." Acts xxvi, 10, 11.





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.        131
Such is sin, even under the garb of self-righteousness, and a zeal for the outward forms of
religion. It has no sympathy for holiness nor
for those who love it. Inflamed by the workings
of its own spirit, it is stimulated in its contacts
with piety and devotion to madness; and in its
insane ravings breathes out threatenings and
slaughter against those who have nothing in
their hearts to return for such malice but love.
But this same Saul is changed. The change is
sudden. It is effected by the grace of God. He
confesses Christ as the author of this change,
wrought in him by the Holy Spirit, and received
through faith in the atonement. This great salvation now becomes his theme. " I thank Jesus
Christ our Lord," he says, " who hath enabled
me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me
into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer,
and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained
mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.,And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Howbeit





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for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first
Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering,
for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." 1 Timothy i,
12-16. Grace, faith, and love; these constitute
the fountain that now fills his soul. He has now
a new spirit in him. Its breathings are love;
love to God and man.     Nothing contrary to
love, not even toward enemies and persecutors.
Toward those of like precious faith it is ardent,
tender, fraternal.  His language is the spontaneous outpouring of the feelings within. " Out of
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."
Matt. xii, 33. "Brethren," " beloved brethren,"
"holy brethren," " dearly beloved," " my dearly
beloved and longed for," are forms of expression
which everywhere mark the deep brotherly affection that dictates his language when speaking to
or of those who were one with him in Christ
Jesus.  And to his enemies his language is
always
" Courteous, pitiful, and kind."
St. Paul was indeed a marked example of the
great change wrought in a sinner by conversion,
producing brotherly love and corresponding lan




CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.        133
guage and conduct. But the same spirit of love
and tenderness was manifested in the lives and
language of Peter, and James, and John, of whose
antecedent opposition to it less is said, if it ever
existed in the same degree; and all of them
ascribe it to the same cause, the change wrought
in them by the Holy Ghost.
These are only a pattern of the Spirit's molding in every true believer in Christ. The image
of the heavenly is stamped upon all. Being of
one heart and one soul they are one in Christ
Jesus. There " is one body and one spirit, even
as they are called in one hope of their calling."
Eph. iv, 4. Thus has " God, who is rich in mercy,
for the great love wherewith he has loved them,
quickened them together with Christ," and raised
them up together, and made them sit together
in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus." Eph. ii, 4-6.
The strength of this principle of brotherly love
in the heart of the new man in Christ Jesus is
witnessed again in its controlling influence upon
tlie lives and conduct of the early Christians.
There were at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost "Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and
the dwellers in Mesopotamia, a -d Judea, and





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Cappadocia, and Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia and
Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya
about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and
Proselytes, Cretes and Arabians," who all heard
the apostles and disciples of Jesus speak of " the
wonderful works of God." Acts ii, 9-11.  Of
this promiscuous multitude, with all their varieties
of local prejudices, national animosities, sectional
and personal feuds, shades of differences of opinion, and natural opposition to holiness, and to the
followers of the despised Galilean in particular,
three thousand were awakened and converted,
and added to the number of the faithful the same
day. " And they continued steadfast in the
apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking
of bread, and in prayers....And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
and sold their possessions and goods, and parted
them to all men, as every man had need; and they,
continuing daily with one accord in the temple,
and breaking bread from house to house, did eat
their meat with gladness and singleness of heart."
Acts ii, 42-46.
What an exhibition of the power of love, to
draw together and unite these previously discord




CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.        135
ant elements! Was the like ever known where
this internal force of brotherly love did not exist?
Never. It has no equal, nothing that can be
substituted to produce such a result. The community of goods, which was not enjoined as a
perpetual duty, nor continued beyond the necessity which prompted it for the occasion, the more
conclusively shows the depth and strength of that
new-born love which produced it, as the spontaneous fruit of this vital principle. They who
brought all their goods, and sold them, saw their
brethren in need; and they loved them too intensely to say to them, "Be ye fed and clothed,"
without giving them the things they needed.
"They took joyfully the spoiling of their goods,"
or parting with them, in compliance with the impulses of the love they had for their suffering
brethren, and for the cause on account of which
they were subject in common to suffer.
This same spirit of brotherly love was manifested in after times, in the liberality with which
Christians in one place contributed for the relief
of the poor saints in another. This was made
by both St. James and St. John a test of the
sincerity of their faith in Christ. "If a brother





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or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace,
be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye
give them not those things which are needful to
the body; what doth it profit?" James ii, 15, 16.
" Whoso hath this world's good, and seeta his
brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels
of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love
of God in him?" 1 John iii, 17. It cannot. The
love of God dwelling in him will fill him with
compassion for the suffering poor of all classes,
but especially his brethren with whom   lie is
united in a common brotherhood, as members of
the family of God. Such is the fruit of brotherly
love, the source and bond of the communion of
saints. To all who know its power, and the
pleasure of its enjoyment, we would say, " Let
brotherly love continue." Heb. xiii, 1. Permit
no act, no error, no neglect, to crush it out, or
quench its heavenly glow. "See that ye love
one another with    a  pure heart fervently."
1 Pet. i, 22.
" Thus may we abide in union
With each other and the Lord;
And possess, in sweet commnnion,
Joys which earth cannot afford."





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.      137
There is one more view to be taken of this
subject of the communion of saints. "The Captain of their salvation," who by his passion and
death procured it, and, from the plenitude "of
his fullness," imparts the riches of his grace to
all who are in him, condescends to become one
with them. In the glorious plan of salvation
God did ordain and predestinate that all who
were born of the Spirit, and adopted into his
family, should "be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the first-born among many
brethren." Rom. viii, 29. Hence, the " great
mystery" of "God manifest in the flesh."  "For
both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one: for which cause he is not
ashamed to call them BRETHREN, saying, I will
declare thy name unto MY BRETHREN; in the midst
of the Church will I sing praise unto thee." Heb.
ii, 11, 12. What condescension! What an example of the spirit of humility, which is an essential element of communion and fellowship among
the children of the same common parent. It was
this spirit the apostle recommended When he said,
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus." Col. ii, 5. "Not ashamed to call





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them brethren 1"  Hear him! When the multi.
tude that thronged him said, " Thy mother and
thy brethren without seek for thee," he answered,
" Who is my mother, or my brethren? And
he looked round about upon them which sat
about him, and said, Behold my mother, and MY
BRETHREN!" Mark iii, 32, 34. "My mother and
MY BRETHREN are these -which hear the word
of God, and keep it." Luke viii, 21. Hear him
again, to the two Marys, whom an angel had informed that he was risen from the dead: "Be
not afraid; go tell MY BRETHREN that I go into
Galilee, and there they shall see me." Matt. xxviii,
10. Nay, more, he solemnly affirms that at the
last day, when he will acknowledge those before
the Father and the holy angels who have confessed him before men, he will say to them on his
right hand, "Inherit the kingdom prepared for
you;.. for I was a hungered, and ye gave me
meat," etc.; "inasmuch as ye have done it unto
one of the least of these MY BRETHREN, ye have
done it unto ME." Matt. xxv, 40.
Thus are we led to contemplate our blessed
Lord as a BROTHER, the first, highest, most holy,
most glorious of the household of God; yet a





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.      139
BROTHER, partaking of the sympathies and affec*tions of the brotherhood, and evincing the depth,
and fervor, and purity of the feeling interest he
takes in the welfare of ALL the spiritual household, by promising to reward, at the great day of
retribution, a charity bestowed upon one of the
least of HIS BRETHREN. In this mysterious character of a brother, man with man, he appeared
to two of his disciples on their way to Emmaus,
conversed with them, accompanied them to their
home, and sat at meat with them; and as he
sat at meat with them  "he took bread, and
blessed it, and brake it, and gave to them. And
their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and
he vanished out of their sight. And they said one
to another, Did not our hearts burn within us,
while he talked with us by the way, and while he
opened to us the Scriptures?" Luke xxiv, 30-32.
Thus did the spirit of communion invisibly
work in them, " and he was known of them
in breaking of bread." Luke xxiv, 35. In like
manner he appeared to the eleven apostles in
Jerusalem, to whom   the two disciples had
communicated his manifestation of himself to
them. As "they were terrified and affrighted,





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he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? Behold my hands and feet; it is I myself." Being
furnished with food, "he did eat before them,"
a token and demonstration that he would make
himself known as a brother, of whom they need
not be afraid. In view of all this testimony of
his fellowship with his people, we are invited to
the glorious feast of spiritual things which his
love has procured for us, and to meet him at his
table as a sympathizing brother and friend.
Nor is this all. The children of God have a
yet clearer title to the privilege of eating bread
with their divine Lord and Redeemer in the
kingdom of God. " As many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye
have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God: and if children, then heirs;
heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." Rom.
viii, 14-17. O what manner of love is this, that
we should be not only called the sons of God,
but have given to us the witness of the Spirit
that we are such, and constituted thereby "joint





CONISIDERED AS A COMMUNION.        141
heirs with Christ" to all the privileges and
abundant provisions of his kingdom! What a
brotherhood; what a royal family is "the household of God!"  0 Jesus! our blessed Lord and
Saviour, how can it be that thou shouldst
" Make slaves the partners of thy throne,
Deck'd with a never-fading crown?
Hence our hearts melt, our eyes o'erflow,
Our words are lost, nor will we know,
Nor will we think of aught beside,
My Lord, my Love, is crucified."
In view of the foregoing remarks, we perceive
n what sense the Lord's Supper is a communion.
It is a token or sign of the communion of those
who worthily partake of it; of their communion
with their Head, as their Lord and Saviour; and
with one another, as members of " the household
of God."
In all ages, and among all people, eating and
riinking together has been taken as a token or
-ign of friendship. Reconciliations between enemies has been thus signified and made known.
Parties at variance, with enmity in their hearts
against each other, have everywhere signified
the continuance of that enmity by refusing or
avoiding to eat with the objects of their hatred..
10





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This mode of publicly signifying the secret animosity of the soul against those of uncongenial
feelings became in time the test of antagonisms
in politics and religion, denoting the prejudices
and bigotry of nation against nation, and sect
against sect. "The Egyptians might not eat
bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination to the Egyptians." Gen. xliii. And "they
that were of the circumcision contended" with
Peter, who opened the mission of the Gospel to
the Gentiles by preaching to the household of
Cornelius, " saying, thou wentest in unto men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them." Acts xi, 3.
While this settled opposition to individuals,
parties, or sects, was understood to be maintained
and openly signified by a firm  and obstinate
avoidance of eating with them, it was equally
understood that reconciliation  of contending
parties, and peace and good-will in the hearts
of friends united by kindred sympathies, were
signified by their eating and drinking together.
This, let us remember, has been so generally
understood in all ages, and among all people,
that the acts themselves came to be as a common
language, read and known of all men.





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.         143
Hence it became a significant rite in all religions. The worshipers of idols have had their
sacred feasts in token of their connection with
the gods they worshiped, and their sympathy
with their fellow-worshipers. All idolatry is so
directly opposed to the worship of the true God,
that the very appearance of sympathy with it,
by partaking of its rites in any form, is pro
hibited.
"But I say," says St. Paul, " that the things
which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to
devils, and not to God: and I would not that
ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of
devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's
table, and the table of devils." 1 Cor. x, 20, 21.
Thus does our eating and drinking at the Lord's
table distinguish us before the world as renouncing all idols, and cleaving to him and his people in heart and life. It is a profession of communion with the household of God, which all
men agree to hold as exceedingly sacred.
In view of this prevalent sentiment, we see the
fitness of the festive institutions and ordinances
of the house of God, under both the Old and





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the New Testament dispensations. His people
were a chosen people, distinct and separate from
all others; and they were set apart as his peculiar worshipers, to show forth his praise to all
the nations of the earth. They were forbidden
to bow down to any other God, or to worship
any other; and commanded to cleave to the
Lord their God with all their hearts, and to love
him supremely. As such a distinct people, in
covenant with the God they acknowledged and
worshiped, they were known and regarded b)
the nations as the enemies of idolatry in all its
forms.
Hence the institutions of the feasts under the
law. Even in the passover, that solemn ordinance of sacrifice and blood, was incorporated
the rite of communion, by the provision that all
who offered the lamb in sacrifice should eat
thereof. This was the type. In doing this the
people of God manifested their faith in the atoning sacrifice which God had provided for the redemption of the world, their union in that faith
in opposition to the idolatry with which they
were surrounded, and their love to God and one
another. It was at least a public profession of





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.          145
all this, as all men were accustomed to construe
such acts.
In like manner our blessed Lord instituted the
supper, to be observed by his people not only to
commemorate his passion and death, as a sacrificial offering for their sins, but also as a token
of the fellowship and love which binds them
together as the family of God. It is not feasting literally upon the sacrifice; nor can it be, as
he himself was the sacrifice once offered for the
sins of many. But it is the true representative
which he himself has appointed, to be eaten by
faith, and is a sign of the spiritual grace most
appropriately expressed, in.the language of the
ritual, as "feeding on him in our hearts by faith
with thanksgiving."
As a badge or token of our profession, that
we are the disciples of Christ, and belong to the
family of God, communiig at the Lord's table
was taken, in the primitive age of the Church, as
conclusive and unquestionable. So the enemies
of the first Christians viewed it; hence, in the
times of persecution, to persist in communing
was deemed sufficient cause to subject Christians
to torture and death; to refrain, and take the





146


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cup consecrated to an idol, was accepted as satisfactory by their persecutors, and exempted them
from suffering. So that to practice. communion
at the Lord's table, and thus confess their connection with Christ and his followers, exposed
them constantly to the liability of persecution,
imprisonment, torture, and death. How strong
was that fellowship, and how full of support and
comfort the grace they received in observing this
ordinance, which sustained them in the habitual
observance of it, while daily exposed to torture
and death on account of professing it!
The practice of the primitive Christians in
this respect shows the estimate they put upon
it as a token of their fellowship and a means of
grace. They practiced it openly and every day.
After the manner of the Jewish Church, who
openly confessed their covenant relation to God
and his Church by their daily sacrifices, so Christians, as the disciples of Christ, confessed him
daily in the ordinance which he had instituted
for/that purpose. That the ordinance was observed daily by the primitive Christians, and
continued to be in many places for three hundred
years after its institution, is affirmed by the con




CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.        147
current testimony of history. Contemplate, then,
the whole body of Christians, after receiving the
baptism of the Spirit, and the law of love written
in their hearts, cleaving to each other, and
"continuing daily with oneaccord in the temple,
and breaking bread from house to house, eating
their meat with gladness of heart." Acts ii, 46.
The meaning, probably, is that they mdt in the
temple, or their public assemblies, on the Sabbath, and in the house of some one of the
brethren each other day of the week. The
Sabbath was wholly devoted to worship; on
week-days, only the morning and      evening.
These were truly religious meetings. Reading
the Scriptures, preaching, or exhortation, after
the manner of the apostles, and their immediate
successors; prayer, singing, distributing alms to
the poor, and confessing Christ in breaking bread,
made up the services of the occasion. Such
were the daily sacrifices in the Christian Church,
adopted in the place of those which were before
observed in the Jewish Church. The pious Jew
had to bring his lamb daily, to be sacrificed by
the priest, as an acceptable offering to God. "But
we have an High Priest," says Paul, "who





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needeth not DAILY, as those high priests, to offer
up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for
the people's; for this he did once, when he
offered himself." Heb. vii, 27. This offering the
Christian worshipers had daily before them, not
in the lamb sacrificed upon the Jewish altar, but
in the symbols of Christ's death upon the cross,
which they celebrated every day, and thus professed Christ before men.
Thus the first Christians continued steadfastly
to cleave to the Lord and to one another through
ten fiery persecutions, every day professing their
connection with him and his household by an
act which subjected them to death, not counting
their lives dear in so holy a cause as confessing
Christ in the ordinance he had appointed. Surely
in them love (their love to Christ and their
brethren) was stronger than death!
It was in view of this practice, and the liability to which it exposed Christians, that they were
represented as being " always delivered unto
death for Jesus' sake," (2 Cor. iv, 11;) as standing  " in jeopardy  every  hour;"  as "dying
DAILY;" as being, for Christ's sake, "killed all
the day long," or "accounted as sheep for the





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.         149
slaughter." Rom. viii, 36. " They endured,"
like the faithful of former ages, " as seeing Him
who is invisible;" " had trials of cruel mockings
and scourgings," " of bonds anrd imprisonments;'
"'were stoned, sawn asunder, tempted" by prom.
ise of deliverance if they would recant; "slain
with the sword, wandered about in sheep-skins
and goat-skins, destitute, afflicted, tormented;"
but they remained steadfast, "not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection." Heb. xi, 35, etc. Well said the Saviour,
"If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, take up his cross DAILY, and follow me."
Luke ix, 23. Was not this the cross eminently
of those times? But the faithful took it up
" daily."
Contemplate, I say, the whole body of Christians, thus exposed, and thus suffering, on account of their faith and hope in Christ and their
love of the brethren, daily confessing him by the
act which their enemies accounted sufficient to
condemn them    to suffer any or all of these
things, with a knowledge of the fact that to refrain from such confession of him, and withdraw
even quietly from  associating with his followers,





THE LORD'S SUPPER


would exempt them    from  these sufferings and
who can fail to see that the faith, hope, and love
by which they were united in fellowship, were.
exceedingly strong and powerful in them. But
what it was in them, it may be in all Christians.
If the grace in our hearts were as deep, pure, and
abiding as it was in theirs, we should feel the
same interest to signify it by the appointed sign,
and the same pleasure and profit in doing so.
Can this be doubted by any who believe that
the sacraments were instituted for the benefit of
the children of God to the end of time?
As the fellowship of the saints is founded in
the union of their hearts, " knit together in love,"
of which their communion at the Lord's table
is a sign and a profession, so it implies corresponding acts to perpetuate and increase this love.
Brotherly love is a tender affection, and requires
to be guarded and protected by all those acts of
brotherly kindness and mutual sympathy which
indicate its sincerity.  As communion at the
Lord's table is universally considered a profession
of love to the members of Christ's body, the occasion of such communion, whether it be frequent or seldom, is deemed a time for self




CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.         151
examination, whether there be anything in us
contrary to the spirit of love which we profess;
and also examination on the part of the Church,
of our lives and tempers, to decide whether we
be worthy to be admitted. This idea respecting
the sacrament as a communion has been very
general, if not universal, in all Christian Churches,
from the beginning to the present time. With
the primitive Christians it was an element of
power, in preserving the purity and spirituality
of the Church.
Let it be borne in mind, then, that the love
we profess in coming to the table of the Lord,
implies compassion for the needy brethren, and
liberality in contributing for their relief. It has
been seen that the primitive Christians wre so
deeply imbued with this spirit that, to meet the
necessities of their brethren under the circumstances, many sold their possessions, and brought
the price thereof and'laid it at the apostles' feet,
to be distributed as every man had need.    It
is not presumed that they were required to
bring all, unless all was necessary. But such
was the extent and the purity of their love that
many did so, evincing thereby that they loved





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their brethren-their poor and suffering brethren
-" not in word only, but in deed and in truth."
Any act or evidence that we are destitute of this
charity toward the poor, or are insincere in our
profession of it, as was made manifest in the
case. of Ananias and Sapphira, who professed
more than was in their hearts, destroys confidence and brotherly love, and renders us unfit
to participate in this communion.
A  communion season is, therefore, a proper
occasion to manifest our charity for the poor, and
to test our spirits, whether indeed we possess
this grace in our hearts. The primitive Christians not only contributed for the poor at their
daily communions, but sought them out and
administered to their relief.  Hence the fact
stated in Acts iii, 1: "There arose a murmuring
among the Grecians against the Hebrews, because
their widows were neglected in the DAILY ministrations."  Even this unintentional indication of
partiality would have become a root of bitterness to mar their charity, if it. had not been
brought to view by the daily observance of the
communion, and thus prevented.
The Church has provided, by its ritual, that a





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.        153
collection shall be made for the poor at every
communion service.   This ought never to be
neglected.  Though the necessity may not be
the same as in the days of the apostles, yet
Christ says, "The poor ye have always with
you." John xii, 8. And in the neglect of it, the
ordinance ceases to be a test by which communicants are required to examine themselves, and
decide their fitness to participate, and an occasion
to exhibit evidence of their love for their poor
brethren to the Church and the world. The
design of the ordinance, as a communion, demands that this practice be never neglected. If
the primitive Christians manifested their love by
remembering the poor at their DAILY communions, surely we ought not to neglect it once a
MONTH, or in a QUARTER OF A YEAR. And let
it never be forgotten, that if we would examine
ourselves in view of profitably partaking of the
Lord's Supper, and not making a false profession
of brotherly love, we must possess this grace-a
heart to feel for the poor, and to contribute according to our ability for their relief.
Again, communion at the Lord's table implies
a covenant or pledge by the communicants, that





154:


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they will live together as brethren, care for each
other's welfare, watch over cne another in love,
and perform toward each other all those brotherly acts which will tend to increase their affection for each other, and promote the" happiness
and wellbeing of the whole brotherhood. To
all this every person solemnly pledges himself
when he presents himself for admission into any
branch of the Christian Church. And communion at the Lord's table is a renewal of those
covenant vows. In primitive times, when they
communed daily, these covenant obligations were
daily in their minds and hearts, to be carried out
in practice. They imposed the obligation to
watch over one another in love; to instruct, advise, counsel, admonish, reprove, exhort, comfort,
and do whatever else brotherly affection might
dictate as necessary and proper to be done, to
edify and save a brother. Hence, St. Paul says,
Heb. x, 19, 22-25: " Having, therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of
Jesus, let us draw near with a true'heart, in full
assurance of faith; let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering; and let us consider
one another, to provoke unto love and to good





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNIION.      155
works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but
exhorting" (that is, instructing, admonishing,
comforting, etc.) "one another; and so much
the more, as ye see the day approaching."
Hence, also, in view of their daily communions,
he says, Heb. iii, 12, 13, "Take heed, brethren,
lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing fropn the living God. But exhort
one another DAILY, while it is called TO-DAY."
Here is both the duty and the reason for it. Fulfill all your covenant obligations to your brethren
every day, ("To-nAY," is the emphatic language
of the apostle,) that with a clear conscience and
a sincere heart you may renew your profession
of love with them at the Lord's table in your
daily communion. The duty can be no less
binding on those who commune less frequently.
Although a month, or three months, may intervene between the seasons of it, we ought to be
every day prepared for it, and therefore see that
nothing is left undone any one day which a preparation for it requires to be done.
Again, a communion season is a time for selfexamination, to inquire if our hearts are right.





THE LORD'S SUPPER


We cannot, consistently with brotherly love, harbor in our hearts anger, enmity, or ill-will against
any brother. All hardness or bitterness of spirit,
tending to dampen the ardor of our affections,
and weaken the confidence of our brethren, must
be cast out of our bosoms. Indulgence in it will
inflame the worst passions of our nature, and lead
to malice and revenge. No temper of this kind
can consist with the spirit of.brotherly love. It
is deemed, therefore, by all enlightened Christians,
that such a spirit of anger or hardness toward
brethren is a bar to the privilege of communion
by those who indulge in it; and to come to the
Lord's table harboring it in their hearts, is a
grievous sin against God and the Church.
To this, probably, the apostle alluded when he
said to the Ephesians, "Be ye angry, and sin
not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath."
Eph. iv, 26. He surely did not mean to exhort
them to be angry; but if anger, from any real or
imaginary offense committed by a brother in
Christ, obtruded itself into their feelings, to
hasten to have it cast out by Christian labor with
the offending brother, and not sin by neglect of
so plain a duty. To do it now, "to-day," be




CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.       157
fore the season of communion, and not let the
sun go down upon their wrath, as that would add
to their guilt the sin of communing with feelings
at variance with their profession of brotherly love.
The same duty is inculcated by our Lord in
his sermon on the mount. "Therefore, if thou
bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee;
leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy
way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then
come and offer thy gift." Matt. v, 23, 24. The
remarks of Dr. Adam Clarke on this passage, as
contained in his commentary, are so appropriate
in regard to the practical duty it inculcates, that
I am induced to give them entire. He says:
"Evil must be nipped in the bud. An unkind
thought of another may be the fountain of that
which leads to murder. A Christian, properly
speaking, cannot be an enemy to any man; nor
is he to consider any man his enemy, without
the fullest evidence; for surmises to the prejudice
of another can never rest in the bosom of him
who has the love of God in his heart, for to him
all men are brethren. He sees all men as the
children of God, and members of Christ, or at
11





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THE LORD'S SUPPER


least capable of becoming such. If a tender, for.
giving spirit was required, even in a Jew, when
he approached God's altar with a bullock or a
lamb, how much more necessary is this in a man
who professes to be a follower of the Lamb of
God, especially when he receives the symbols of
that sacrifice which was offered for the life of the
world, in what is commonly called the Sacrament
of the Lord's Supper?
" Leave there thy gift at the altar. This is as
much as to say, 'Do not attempt to bring any
offering to God while thou art in a spirit of
enmity against any person, or hast any difference
with thy neighbor which thou hast not used thy
diligence to get adjusted.' It is our duty and
interest to bring our gift, and offer it too; buk
God will not accept of any act of religious worship from us while any enmity subsists in our
hearts toward any soul of man; or while any
subsists in our neighbor's heart toward us, which
we have not used the proper means to remove.
A religion the very essence of which is love, cannot suffer at its altars a heart that is revengeful
and uncharitable, or which does not use its utmost
endeavors to revive love in the heart of another.'





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.        159
We see in this precept how our Lord connects
the duty of self-examination with communion at
his table, and makes the communion an occasion
for such examination. It is so evident that everything contrary to love in the heart is inconsistent
with that love, that oneness of heart and soul,which we profess in communing with the people
of God, that it would seem no sincere Christian
could think of coming to the Lord's table without examining his heart to see if anything contrary to this Christian grace might be harbored
in it. This rule is recognized as of vital importance by the Church, as is evident from the language of invitation to communicants in the form
of service. "Ye that do truly and earnestly repent of your sins, and are in love and charity
with your neighbors, and intend to lead a new
life, following the commandments of God, and
walking from henceforth in his holy ways, draw
near with faith, and take this holy sacrament to
your comfort, and make your humble confession
to Almighty God."  "And are in love and charity
with your neighbors," implies no enmity or bitterness of spirit toward any one. And it implies
especially that there is no disaffection or hardness





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toward any Christian brother, to interrupt the
glow of affection between the children, of God
which brotherly love produces.
As a right understanding of this rule is of great
importance to those who desire to serve God acceptably in his ordinances, it ought to engage our
particular and very serious-attention. It is quite
evident that it has been too generally misapprehended, and consequently misapplied, by professing Christians, much to their own injury, and
that of the cause of God and the peace and prosperity of the Church.
It seems to have grown into an axiom, that if
a member of the Church has aught against another member, or has knowledge or suspicion of
wrong in another which is inconsistent with
brotherly love, it is just cause for his refraining
from coming to the Lord's table, and this rule
is appealed to in justification of so doing. In
such cases we hear them say, "I cannot comimune" with that brother or that sister, "for he"
or she "has injured me;" or he or she "entertains
hardness against me;" or he or she "has been
guilty of" such a " wrong," or such "wickedness;" or there is something in his or her spirit





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.         161
or practice that is inconsistent with a profession
of religion. And they refer seriously to these
words of our blessed Lord, to justify them in refusing to come to his table with such persons, as
if it were a matter of conscience with them. Now
it must be evident to all that if the rule does not
justify such an application of it, the practice thus
deduced from it must be extremely injurious to
all who adopt it, and to the cause of God and the
Church.
What, then, does the rule enjoin as our duty
in this matter?  First, it enjoins that we faithfully examine our own hearts, and review our.
own lives, to ascertain whether there be anything
in either contrary to the law of love, or which may
be a cause of offense to a Christian brother.
Bear in mind it is not said "That THOU hast
aught against thy brother," namely, dost know
or suspect aught in him that is wrong; but " that
thy brother hath aught against THEE," that is,
that there is aught in thy spirit or conduct which
is cause of offense to any brother, or brethren, or
the whole Church, being contrary to that charity
which is the bond of Christian union, and therefore productive of alienation of affection, disunion,





162       THE LORD'S SUPPER


and consequent loss of the spirit of piety  If,
after a faithful and impartial self-examination,
anything appear in thy spirit 'or conduct that is
a barrier to an open and unrestrained communion
with the brethren, the way to remove it is clear
and easy, and within thy power. Go at once to
the brother, or brethren, against whom thou hlast
entertained unbrotherly feelings, or committed
an unbrotherly act, and frankly confess it. If the
hearts of those whom thou hast wronged be right,
they will receive thy confession as evidence of
the sincerity of thy professions, and brotherly
love and confidence will be restored. What infinite mischief has resulted to the cause of God,
and the purity and peace of his Church, by a
neglect of professors in this respect. Let it be
borne in mind that the sacrament, as a communion, furnishes an occasion, by divine appointment,
to call up our attention every time it occurs to
our duty in this matter.
In the second place, the rule implies that if
we have aught against a brother, that is, know
or believe anything in his spirit or conduct which
is contrary to the Gospel, we endeavor, in a
Christian way, to have it removed before com




CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.         163
muning with him. We are so much disposed to
neglect this duty of endeavoring to recover an
offending brother from the error of his way, by
personal labor with him, and thus permitting the
leaven of sin and the spirit of alienation to work
till recovery is impracticable, that we need just
such a stimulant as this rule furnishes to prompt
us periodically to it. To commune with those
who are in the practice of wickedness, or the
unrestrained indulgence of wrong passions, withoutshowing our disapproval of these things, by
all the means we can use in a Christian manner
to reclaim them, renders us liable to the imputation of sanctioning them in our hearts, or at
least not deeming them inconsistent with our
profession as Christians. Besides, they are a
barrier to the exercise of that brotherly affection toward them   which is implied in that
oneness of heart and soul which distinguishes
the members of the household of God as a peculiar people. There is no greater evidence of the
true spirit of love in our own hearts than to bear
the cross in this matter, and endeavor, by faithful personal labor with offending brethren, to restore them to God and the Church. And this





164:


THE LORD'S SUPPER


duty is so imperious, that the rule enjoins, when
we are about to approach the table of the Lord,
that if we remember that there are those toward
whom we have not discharged it, we pause and
defer our privilege of communing till we have
discharged it. It does not follow that we must
be deprived of communing at all. No person
is prepared for communion who does not think
of preparing, a sufficient length of time before
the season for it, to attend to all these duties.
Indeed, those who are rightly disposed will feel
the importance of a daily preparation from one
season to another. And all evangelical Churches
have their special occasions, covenant-meetings,
class-meetings, etc., for the convenience of their
members in this matter. If, after all, the offending member keep out of the way, or cannot be
seen or labored with, and we have done all we
can to restore him, we may come and offer our
gift. It is our duty to do so. But we must
come with a clear conscience that we have done
all we could to reclaim our offending brethren,
and restore the spirit of brotherly love. Our
self-examination, preparatory to communion, includes in it a faithful inquiry, in the fear and





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.       165
love of God, whether we have discharged our
whole duty in this matter toward those who
are going astray. If we have, we can approach
the table of the Lord with a peaceful heart and
quiet conscience.  If not, we are under the
same disability to please God in this service, and
to be profited by it, that other acts of disobedience or sin would occasion.
If the offending brethren with whom    we
labor remain impenitent, and will not be reclaimed, the sin of severing the bond of union
is with them; we have delivered our souls, and
may continue our communion with Christ and
the Church, without suffering any injury to our
souls on account of the presence of transgressors
more than if they had no part in it.
But toward impenitent transgressors our
duty is not ended when our utmost personal
efforts to reclaim them have failed. As our individual right does not include authority to exclude any member from the Church, so our individual duties do not include the expulsion oi
any, whatever cause may exist for their being
expelled. This belongs to the Church. When,
therefore, we have done all by personal labor





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that the Gospel requires us to do, if we fail to
succeed, our next step of duty is to report the
case to the Church, and, as members of the
body, to do our part. toward administering its
discipline in excluding them from  it. This is
the duty of every member of the Church, as
much as to pray or give alms, or attend to the
ordinances. And let none suppose that they can,
for any imaginary cause, neglect it, or especially
interpose barriers in the way of those who are
called to do it, and retain the favor and approbation of God. " If he neglect to hear them," said
the Saviour, "tell it to the Church: but if he
neglect to hear the Church, let him  be unto
thee as a heathen man and a publican." Matt.
xviii, 17., And Paul says, respecting those who
were guilty of offenses inconsistent with their
profession as Christians: "Purge out the old
leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are
unleavened. For even Chtist, our passover, is
sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast,
not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of
malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened
bread of sincerity and truth.   Now   I have
written unto you not to keep company, if any





CONSIDERED AS A COMMUNION.         167
man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or
covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no not to
eat. Therefore put away from among you that
wicked person." 1 Cor. v, 7-9, 11, 13. Thus it is
the duty to exclude from the Church and its
privileges those who transgress the laws of purity
and love, and not to continue to commune with
them lest, like leaven, their impurity and ungodliness contaminate the whole body. But
this work of discipline must be performed in the
spirit of love; and in this way only can the
Church fulfill the injunction not to eat with improper communicants.
But, beloved reader, this is quite a different
thing from leaving the table of the Lord in their
possession, and neglecting to commune on their
account. If the wrong conduct or wrong spirit
of another be a reason why we should not commune with him, and we ourselves leave the table
of the Lord as the only or proper means of
avoiding such communion, it is placing our privilege and duty in the hands of others, and
handing over the ordinance itself to their conIrol. Admit that the rule justifies the course of





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THE LORD'S SUPPER


those who say, "I cannot commune with that
brother because I cannot fellowship him as a
Christian," or "because he is guilty of unchristian practices," or "indulges in unchristian
tempers," and they keep away from communion
on that account, and what would be the result?
Plainly this: if all were to act in the same way,
as they ought to if the rule enjoins it, the table
of the Lord would be deserted by the children
of God, and left in possession of those who
would only profane it. This was never designed
by the Saviour. The duty habitually to commune is imperatively binding upon all Christians.
" This do," said the blessed Redeemer, "in remembrance of me." It is your duty; it is your
privilege.  Neglect it not on any account.
Though a Judas be there and you know it, do
not withdraw from the Lord's table; but, having
done your duty toward him, and leaving him
to be sent to his own place, by the means appointed for the excision of such, in an orderly
way, partake of the sacred feast to your comfort.
Or, though one come in not having on a wedding
garment, let him not drive you away who have
it. In due time, and in an orderly way, he may





CONSIDERED AS A COMM-UNION.      169
be excluded. But do not abandon the feast, and
surrender ybur privilege to such. Does not the
rule, and the instructions of the Saviour respecting the ordinance of the supper, clearly indicate
that such would be his language, if he were to
speak audibly from heaven to his followers on
the subject. Let this excuse for neglecting the
ordinance, then, be forever excluded from your.
thoughts. It involves the double guilt of neglecting the plain command, " This do in remembrance of me;" and also the duty of that
Christian labor with offending brethren which
the Saviour enjoins. Christians think of these
things. The Master said, " Then come and offer
thy gift."  There is no provision to justify a
neglect of it on any account.
The sum of the whole is, that in order to be
prepared for communion at the Lord's. table,
every Christian must attend to his own heart
and life, and see to it that there is nothing in
either contrary to love to God and the brethren
-nothing that would weaken Christian confidence and brotherly affection, if the secrets of
his soul were laid open to the view of all. This
love to God and his children implies also love





17O          THE LORD'S SUPPER
to all men; not indeed that brotherly love
which is the bond that unites the children of
God together, and is therefore peculiar, but that
love which Christ commends when he directs us
to love our enemies, and which St. Paul so beautifully describes in the thirteenth chapter of his
first epistle to the Corinthians. This is understood
by being in love and charity with our neighbors.
And if, on a close and faithful examination into
the state of our own hearts before God, we find
that we are possessed of the love to God, to our
brethren, and to all men, which the Gospel requires, we may come to the feast the Lord has
provided for his people, and no one has a right
to prevent us.





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT. 171


CHAPTER VIII.
THE LORD'S SUPPER CONSIDERED AS A
SACRAMENT.
THIS term, as applied to the Eucharist, is not
found in the Scriptures. It was, however, employed at a very early period in the primitive
Church to designate that ordinance.   It was
used by Pliny, the Roman governor, in his epistle to the Emperor Trajan, as expressive of one
of the acts which characterized the worship of
the Christians, as they affirmed, at their religious
meetings. Whether it originated with him, because it was the most appropriate term he could
employ to convey a correct idea of the act, and
its design, as explained to him  by the Christians themselves, and afterward adopted by the
Church because of its appropriateness, or was already in use by them and adopted by him, it is
not important.at this time to inquire. It is
enough to know that to an intelligent Roman
governor, such as Pliny,'ertainly was, there was





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THE LORD'S SUPPER


that in the term itself, and, if so, most certainly
in an act that would suggest the term as most
fitting to describe it, which was calculated to invest the ordinance with a degree of sacredness
more than attaches to a mere rite or memorial.
SACRAMENT, among the Romans, was a military oath, which every soldier, on entering the
service of his country, was obliged to take, of
fidelity and obedience to his general. This element of a sacrament was clearly observable in
the act of partaking of the Lord's Supper by the
disciples. They were understood to take upon
themselves, in the most solemn manner, the obligation of fidelity and obedience to their divine
Master, or rather to renew this obligation every
time they partook of it. With this view of the
ordinance as a sacrament, there is every reason
to believe the primitive Christians were deeply
impressed. And its practical tendency is of so
much importance, that the specific purpose for
which this work is written seems to demand a
more enlarged notice of it here.
Let it be remembered, then, that though the
term sacrament is not found in the Scriptures,
the relations and duties which it implies are





CONSIDERED   AS    SACRAMENT.      178
clearly set forth there.  Jesus Christ is the
"Captain of our salvation." Heb. ii, 10. We
are "soldiers" in his service. 2 Tim. ii, 3. As
such we are pledged to obey and serve him.
We were never accepted of him until we surrendered ourselves wholly to serve and obey him.
That was the most solemn religious act we ever
performed. We felt then that we were thenceforward "not our own," but belonged to Him
who died for us, and rose again, and that the
surrender of ourselves to his service was not a
mere promise that we would obey and serve him,
but a promise partaking of the nature of an oath.
It was a solemn pledge to be his forever. We
are therefore to partake of this sacrament with
the fact distinctly impressed upon our minds,
that it is equivalent to a solemn oath of fidelity
and obedience to our Lord and Master, during
the whole of the warfare into which he has
called us.  That the primitive Christians so
viewed it, is evident from  the strictness and integrity with which they continued to profess
their faith in him, and to do all things whatsoever he had commanded them, though they were
persecuted even unto death. They took joyfully
12





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THE LORD'S SUPPER


the spoiling of their goods, and submitted to th1
most cruel tortures and painful martyrdom,
rather than defile their consciences by a violation
of their vows of fidelity and obedience to their
Saviour. Let Christians ponder these tbings in
their hearts, and with such examples of fidelity
and obedience to inspire their zeal and devotion,
endeavor so to partake of the holy sacrament,
that they may gain strength thereby more firmly
to fight the battles of the Lord, and do his will
in all things.
But as a sacrament the ordinance involves
another idea, which is calculated greatly to console and edify those who observe it understandingly, and with a right disposition of heart. It
is a covenant rite in which God pledges his covenant mercies to those who worthily partake of
it, as they pledge their faith in the sacrificial
offering of Christ for sin, and fidelity and obedience to him, in partaking of it. -In the language of the Church of England, as set forth in
her articles of religion, " Sacraments ordained
of Christ be not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, but rather they be sure
witnesses and effectual signs of grace, and God's





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.        175
will toward us, by the.which he doth work. invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but
also strengthen and confirm our faith in him."
All Protestant evangelical Churches hold substantially the same. The Eucharist is such a
sacrament, ordained by Christ. As it has been
usual among men in all ages to confirm covenants by visible and solemn forms, so God, in
entering into covenant engagements with men,
Shas condescended to the same method of affording, on his part, sensible assurance of his fidelity,
and to require the same from them. Thus, circumcision was the sign and seal of the covenant
with Abraham; and when the great covenant of
grace was made in the Son of God with all
nations, it was agreeable to this analogy to expect that he would institute some constantly recurring visible sign, in confirmation of his mercy
to us, which should encourage our reliance upon
his promises, and have the force of a perpetual
renewal of the covenant between the parties."*
Such is the institution of the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper.
But, to be more particular, the sacrament is
* Rev. Richard Watson.





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THE LORD'S SUPPER


both a SIGN and a SEAL. As a sign, it represents the body and blood of Christ, broken and
shed, as we have before noticed, for the remission of sins; or, in other words, "Christ crucified," as a propitiatory offering for the sins of the
world.   It is a declaration, addressed to the
senses by significant emblems, of the same doctrines of the atonement by Jesus Christ, and the
promises and benefits which that atonement has
procured for us, which the written word of God
exhibits, but in a manner to bring these great
truths more vividly to excite our faith and affect
our hearts.
It exhibits, first, the infinite love of God to the
world, in giving " his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth on him might not perish,
but have everlasting life." John iii, 16. It exhibits, also, the unbounded love of Christ, " who
died, the just for the unjust, that he might bring
us to God." 1 Pet. iii, 18. It exhibits and portrays his extreme sufferings, his mangled body,nd shed blood, his agony in the garden, and his
death upon the cross. In all this he is seen
through the emblems presented to the senses of
the receiver, as a sacrificial offering for us,





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.       117
" wounded for our transgressions and bruised for
our iniquities," Isaiah liii, 5; in "virtue of
which only a covenant of grace was entered into
with man by the offended God.", It presents
also, to the mind of the humble recipient, a lively
representation of the benefits derived from it
through faith, namely, "remission of sins," and
nourishment of the soul in spiritual life and
vigor, by virtue of communion with Christ, according to his word, "He that eateth my flesh
and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and I in
him." John vi, 56.
The acts and words as used by Christ when
he instituted this ordinance, would not of themselves be sufficient to teach us the great and
edifying truths it is designed symbolically to
represent. But they are as parts of a grand
picture, selected and arranged by infinite wisdom, to present at one view the whole plan of
our redemption, as revealed in the word of God,
and the benefits it confers upon us, if we will
accept of them on the terms proposed in the
Gospel.
I need scarcely say here that this sacrament,
as a sign of the new covenant, excludes the





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THE LORD'S SUPPER


popish dogma, that it contains in itself, and by
the will and intention of the consecrating priest,
conveys to the recipient of it, the grace it signifies. Protestants must lose their senses before
they can close with such an absurdity. If the
real body and blood of Christ be present in the
elements, then, as that dogma teaches, they are
the sacrifice, instead of Christ, and these visible
material substances contain in themselves all the
merit and efficacy from which grace and pardon
flow, and they cannot therefore be a sign of
what they are themselves. When, at the original institution of the ordinance, J.esus said of the
bread, "This is my body," and of the wine, "This
is my blood," the disciples, whose eyes then saw
him, and whose ears then heard the'words he
spake, knew that he did not mean his body and
blood literally; and certainly not his broken body
and shed blood, for his body had not been
broken nor his blood shed. They knew, and
ever after understood, that he meant to say,
SThese are, and in this rite shall ever be understood to be, a sign or emblem of my body broken
for you, and my blood shed for you and for
many, for the remission of sins."  As a sign,





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.         179
therefore, and not the real body and blood of
Christ, the bread and wine cannot contain any
grace or efficacy to benefit the receiver. Believing that none for whose benefit this work is intended will be in danger of being led astray by
any tendency of their minds toward a reliance
for grace and salvation upon the sign, to the
neglect of the thing signified, it may not be
necessary to add anything further on this point.
There is more danger of leaning to the opposite
extreme, and so losing the spiritual benefits of the
ordinance by reducing it to a level with other
mere rites and ceremonies of religion, which have
not the essential characteristics of a sacrament.
We may receive the ordinance as a memorial of
the sufferings and death of Christ, and as emblematical of what is spiritual and invisible, and
thus be led to cherish pious reflections and sentiments, which may be mistaken for "grace in the
heart" by the moral influence upon our minds
which such meditations as a serious observance
of this rite is calculated to excite. All this is
right and proper as far as it goes. The sacrament is emblematical; it is adapted to excite
pious sentiments which are consistent with the





180


THE LORD'S SUPPER


highest state of grace and holiness; and it has
been shown at large in another part of this
treatise that it is and was intended by its author
to be a perpetual memorial of his death until he
should come to judge the world. But if this
were all that is implied in the ordinance it would
fail to be a sacrament, and come short of the end
for which it was instituted.  Our views must
penetrate deeper than this into the sacred mystery
in order to derive all the benefit from it which it
was designed to convey to those who meekly receive it in a right manner.
Speaking of both sacraments, Baptism and the
Lord's Supper, Mr. Watson, in his Theological
Institutes, says: "As SIGNS, they are visible and
symbolical expositions of what the Article of the
Church of England, above quoted, calls 'the
grace of God, and his will,' that is, his 'goodwill toward us;' or, according to the Church of
Scotland, 'significations of the benefits of his
mediation;' that is, they exhibit to the senses,
under appropriate emblems, the same benefits as
are exhibited in another form in the doctrines
and promises of the word of God, so that ' the
eye may affect and instruct the heart,' and that





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.         181
for thestrong incitement of our faith, our desire,
and our gratitude."
All serious persons know and feel how possible
it is to peruse the sacred Scriptures, and permit
the eye to pass over the "doctrines and promises"
they contain, without being deeply affected by
them. When we read the Bible as a mere form
or custom, without attention or concern as to our
personal interest in what it contains, it is as a
dead letter to us, producing neither instruction
nor edification. "But whoso looketh into the
perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he
being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the
work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." James
i, 25. Such a man searches the Scriptures with a
desire to be benefited by their instructions. He
believes that they are " able to make him  wise
unto salvation, (2 Tim. iii, 15;) and, as his soul
thirsteth for salvation, with earnest solicitude and
diligent care he looks for the healing waters in
the sacred word. And he is not disappointed.
He sees there the "fountain opened for sin and
uncleanness." Zech. xiii, 1. Everywhere he is
pointed to " Christ and him  crucified " as the
only foundation of his hope. In all the doctrines





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promises, types, and shadows, he discovers tokens
and signs which exhibit a Redeemer and a Saviour, such as he needs and his soul desires. To
him the word has become a rich and exhaustless
treasure. He never tires in perusing it. "  is
delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law
doth he meditate day and night." Psa. i, 2. He
has the word of God "in his heart as a fire."
Jer. xx, 9. "The word of Christ dwells in him
richly in all wisdom." Col. iii, 16. The word,
in which Christ is set forth as a propitiatory
offering for the sins of the world, " a mediator
of the new covenant," (Heb. xii, 24,) an advocate for sinners at the right hand of the Father,"
(1 John, ii, 1,) "a great High Priest that is passed
into the heavens," (Heb. iv, 14,) who "ever liveth
to make intercession for us," and "is able to save
them to the uttermost that come to God by him,"
(Heb. viii, 25,) is the mirror in which he sees the
atoning victim as "all in all" to him. Thus "beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord," he is
" changed into the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Cor. iii, 18.
He feels that this word, mixed with faith in them
that hear it, has a renovating and transforming





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.         183
power; that it is a life-giving and life-sustaining
word; and he feasts upon it to satisfy the cravings of his soul, as a hungry man does upon the
provisions of his table to meet the demands of
his physical nature.
So, also, in'regard to the sacrament, we may
partake of it from custom, or because it is a prescribed duty, as a mere form, without deriving
any benefit from  it. If we fail to perceive the
significance of the sign, or take no interest in it
other than to comply with the command of
Christ to do this in remembrance of him, it will
be profitless to us, though we may be constant
and uniform in observing it. We may go still
farther and be at most only partially benefited
by it. If we view the sign as only a memorial
of the sufferings and death of Christ, desighed to
bring up into our minds the history of those
events, and excite such pious reflections and
meditations as a vivid presentation of them would
be calculated to do, and even the sympathy and
affection for an innocent suffering friend, which
such a fresh picture of his sufferings would naturally inspire, we shall derive but a partial benefit
from it.





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We may     penetrate still deeper into the
mystery, and recognize in those symbols presented to the eye and the taste, a sign or memorial of the sufferings of Christ as the Redeemer of
the world, and cherish all the feelings of gratitude
and love to him which the remembrance of his
condescending goodness in thus suffering for a
guilty world, and achieving its redemption by it,
would beget in our feeling hearts, and yet fail to
receive the full benefit the ordinance was designed
to impart; for it is, after all, only as a memorial
of what is past, and not a sign of him as a present, almighty Saviour. In this sense, let it be
remembered, is the sign intended to represent our
crucified Redeemer to the believing soul. As
such it is received by faith, faith in our hearts
with thanksgiving. And thus the ordinance, as
a sign or picture presented to the eye, answers
the same end as the written word; as in it we
" behold the glory of the Lord," and experience
its transforming influence and edifying efficacy
in our hearts.
But what is this "glory of the Lord," so impressively presented in the sacrament? It is that in
which he appears as a triumphant conqueror,





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.         180
whose " right hand and holy arm hath gotten
him the victory," (Psa. xcviii, i;) the glory with
which he was glorified by his death upon the
cross, as he said, "Father, the hour is come;
glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify
thee." John xvii, 1. As a Redeemer and Mediator, his peculiar glory is that he appears, even
in the midst of the throne, " a lamb as it had
been slain." Rev. v, 6. So he appears to the
multitude around the throne, "clothed with
white robes," who cry "with a loud voice, saying, SALVATION to our God which sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb." Rev. vii, 10.
And so he appears to his followers on earth, who
by faith behold him in his triumphal glory as
their Redeemer and Mediator, the merit of whose
passion and death continues to prevail for them,
and for all the world, as effectually as it did for
his disciples the hour he suffered upon the cross.
He is viewed by believing recipients of the holy
sacrament as a "lamb slain from the foundation
of the world." Rev. xiii, 8. Their faith apprehends him as a present Saviour, whose blood
now avails for them, and is now, as it has been
at all times from the beginning, efficacious for





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the remission of sins and salvation of men.
Hence, the sacrament is not, to those who receive
it understandingly and with faith, a mere commemoration of the passion and death of Christ,
as an event that is past, but a recognition of that
sacrifice as a propitiatory offering for them, as
really efficacious now, by his presence and advocacy for them before the Father, as it was when
he exclaimed upon the cross, "It is finished!"
Thus, with Paul, they "glory in the cross of
Christ"-in " Christ crucified;" and they receive
the ordinance as significant of that sacrifice which
he made for them upon the cross, and of him as
an abiding sacrificial offering for sin, in the character of a "mediator of the new covenant," who
" ever liveth to make intercession for them."
Heb. vii, 25.
How precious to the believer's heart is such a
view of the Saviour! In the bread that is broken
he sees a sign of the body of Christ; in the act
of its being broken, a sign of the crucifixion to
which he submitted to expiate sin: in the wine
he sees a representation of the blood of Christ;
and in the act of its being poured out, the shedding of his blood for the remission of sins. These





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.         187,hings, though significant as visible signs of invisible things, might not, indeed, alone and unaccompanied by the words of the Saviour in the
institute, call up into the mind the expiatory offering of Christ's body upon the cross for us, or
suggest him to us as our Mediator and Advocate,
"The bleeding sacrifice"
at the right hand of the Father. But when we
hear him say, "This is my body," and " This is
my blood," we are shut up to the one soul-inspiring thought, that it is an instituted sign of
his body and blood, in all the interesting aspects
in which he is set forth in the written word of
God, as having been " delivered for our offenses,
and raised again for our justification." Rom.
iv, 25.
But this ordinance, as a sacrament, includes
also the idea of the presence of Christ as a party
to the "covenant," of which it is the ratifying
seal, as well as a sign. And as a sign, it is significant of the manner in which he manifests his
presence. This is evidently a spiritual manifestation. And such the Scriptures represent it to
be. The Roman Catholic doctrine claims a real





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presence of the body and blood in the consecrated elements. The ordinance, in that case,
would cease to be a sign or a seal, representing
the body and blood of Christ, and the grace they
impart, as it would involve the absurdity that
the real substance is a symbol or representation
of itself. But there is a more rational and
Scriptural sense in which Christ is present, and his
presence recognized by believing hearts at the
sacramental feast of communion with his people.
The Lord said to Moses: " An altar of earth
thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice
thereon thy burnt-offerings, thy sheep, and thine
oxen; in all places where I record my name I
will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. Exod.
xx, 24. And Christ himself said: " Where two
or three are gathered together in my name, there
am I in the midst of them." Matt. xviii, 20.
What language can be more positive and explicit than this? Christians who assemble to
commemorate the passion and death of their
Lord and Saviour, in obedience to his explicit
command, must be considered as being " gathered together in his name, that is, by his sanction,
authority, or direction, in a sense which can ad




CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.         189
mit of no doubt as to its being embraced in the
declaration, "There am I in the midst of them,"
And if there be only " two or three"-two even
-the administrator, to consecrate the, elements
and administer the ordinance, oand the recipient,
who may be a pining invalid in a dark and
dreary cellar or garret, to receive it, the declaration is the same: "There am I in the midst of
them."
Now, with the mind resting upon the declaration, " There am I," and firmly believing it as we
believe every other clearly expressed and positive
declaration of our Lord, it remains to settle the
question, In what sense is he there? We cannot believe he is there, in the sense of the Catholics, as identical with the bread and wine. Our
senses contradict it. Nor do we look for him in
his bodily form, as he appeared at different times
to his disciples, before his ascension into heaven.
He has never so appeared among his people since
that event. Nor are we satisfied with that low
view of this delightful and soul-comforting declaration, which represents it as meaning nothing
more than a presence in the minds of those who
ase drawn, by the circumstance of their being
13





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assembled in his name, to think of him  with
more attention and interest than they are wont
to do at other times; or, at most, as the presence
of a king or magistrate, at courts established
within their jurisdiction, by their authority and
sanction merely. This idea does not come up to
what is clearly implied in the terms used by our
blessed Lord. Nor is it necessary to resort to so
meager an interpretation of those words, spoken
for the encouragement and comfort of all who
should believe on him, to avoid the absurdity of
believing in the dogma of transubstantiation.
No; his presence is elsewhere promised as a
manifestation of himself to his people, in a manner to assure them of it. First, directly to his
disciples: "I will not leave you comfortless: I
will come to you. At that day ye shall know
that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in
you. He that hath my commandments, and
keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he
that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and
I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
If a man love me, he will keep my words: and
my Father will love him, and we will come unto
him, and make our abode with him." John xiv,





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT. 191
18, 20, 23. Again, in his prayer for his followers,
on the same night in which he was betrayed:
"Holy Father, keep through thine own name
those whom thou hast given me, that they may
be one, as we are. While I was with them in
the world, I kept them in thy name. I pray not
that thou shouldst take them out of the world,
but that thou shouldst keep them  from  the
evil;" and he adds: " Neither pray I for these
alone, but for them also which shall believe on
me through their word: that they all may be
one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,
that they also may be one in us." John xvii,
11-21. Thus, as his presence was with them,
as " God manifested in the flesh," while he was
in the world, so it was promised to be with
them, by " manifestation of the Spirit," after he
should go to the Father. His declaration, then,
" There am I," means simply in the Spirit.
To believers in the doctrine of the Trinity and
the gift of the Holy Ghost, according to the
Scriptures, all these declarations and promises of
the indwelling presence of the Father and the
Son are consistent with the analogy of their
faith, and understood as the mystery that Paul





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preached to the Gentiles, " which is," said he,
"Christ in you, the hope of glory." Col. i, 27.
Or, as it is elsewhere stated: "Ye are the temple
of the living God; as he hath said, I will dwell in
them, and walk in them; and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people." 2 Cor. vi, 16.
This indwelling of Christ, by the Holy Ghost,
constitutes the spiritual life of the Christian.
" Nevertheless I live," said Paul; "yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me: and the life which I live in
the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me, and gave himself for me." Gal.
ii, 20. " The children of God, being born of the
Spirit, have a spiritual nature, whose wants, being
spiritual, can be supplied only by the Spirit, and
in a spiritual manner. They that are after the
flesh, do mind the things of the flesh; but they
that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit."
Rom. viii, 5. The life of the body is sustained,
nourished, and strengthened by food; and our
physical nature is constituted with appetites
which crave and seek the food needful for it. So
is the spiritual life of the "new man, which after
God is created in righteousness and true holiness,"
sustained, nourished, and strengthened by spiritual





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.        193
food; and there are also spiritual appetites which
crave and seek this food. This analogy is found
everywhere in the Scriptures. It is seen in all
those passages where the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ is set forth under the notion of a
feast, and the hungry and needy are invited to
come and eat. Such allusions are abundant in
both the Old and New Testaments. It is also
expressively indicated in the language of our
Lord: " Blessed are they that do hunger and
thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled."
Matt. v, 6. But more especially is it set forth in
that memorable discourse which he uttered concerning himself, as contained in the sixth chapter of John's Gospel: "Labor not for the meat
which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man
shall give unto you: for him hath God the
Father sealed. I am the bread of life: he that
cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that
believeth on me shall never thirst. Verily,
verily, he that believeth on me hath everlasting
life. I am that bread of life. This is the bread
which cometh down from heaven, that a man
may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living





194:


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


bread which came down from heaven: if any man
eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the
bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will
give for the life of the world. Whoso eateth my
flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life;
and I will raise him up at the last day. For
my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink
indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh
my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the
living Father hath sent me, and I live by the
Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live
by me. This is that bread which came down
from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna,
and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall
live forever." John vi, 27-58.
This discourse of our Lord contains so many
expressions analogous to the words he used in
the institution of the sacrament, that we are led
to suppose there is some designed connection between the two. The doctrines taught, and the
practical tendency of those doctrines, appear to
be so similar, that we naturally conclude both
were intended to teach the same lesson, and impress upon the mind and heart the same ideas
connected with our salvation.





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.        195
But what is that lesson? The sum is, that
eternal life is procured for us, and imparted to
us, through the death and mediation of our Lord
Jesus Christ; that he came and suffered for us,
" that we might have life, and that we might
have it more abundantly." John x, 10.
But it may be profitable to consider more
particularly the prominent points of this wonderful discourse. Can the words have a literal
meaning? Surely not. Christ never was bread
literally; and the senses of all who saw him precluded the possibility of their supposing that he
so intended to represent himself. He called himself " bread," figuratively, because of his answering to the spiritual wants of the soul, the
same purposes of sustaining, nourishing, and
strengthening its life, as bread does in sustaining,
nourishing, and strengthening the life of the body.
He represents himself as the bread which came
down from heaven, denoting his taking a body in
which he suffered for our sins. But the burden
of his discourse is, that he is the bread which
cometh down from heaven, denoting that, in his
true character as a mediator, he is a never-failing
source to meet the spiritual wants of those who





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receive him by faith. And the same glorious
truth is contained in the promissory portions of
the discourse.  "'le that cometh to me shall
never hunger."  ' Whoso cateth my flesh, and
drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will
raise him up at the last day." But the expression, "The bread that I will give is my flesh,"
is almost synonymous with "This is my body
which is broken for you;" and it indicates that
the provision of the spiritual food which is
given for the life and nourishment of the soul, is
so essentially connected with and proceeds from
the sacrificial offering he made of himself for
sin, that it is needful always to have the mind
fully impressed with the idea of his being "put
to death in the flesh," to exercise that faith which
will be acceptable to him.
And here we are brought to see how the
sacrament is significant, not only of the sufferings
of Christ upon the cross, indicating the manner
of those sufferings, but also "a sign of grace
and God's will toward us, by which he doth
work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken,
but also strengthen and confirm   our faith in
him," as the Church of England has it; or, as





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAIMENT.       197
t is expressed by the Church of Scotland, adapted
"to signify, seal, and exhibit, to those within the
covenant of grace, the benefits of his mediation."
As a sign of the grace by which God doth
invisibly work in us, it is effectual in suggesting
the life-giving and life-sustaining power of that
grace, imparting life and spiritual vigor to our
souls; and also of the evidence we have in ourselves that he does so work. When we look
upon the bread and the wine we are reminded of
the body and the blood of Christ, for he has
expressly told us that these are designed in the
institution to represent his body and blood.
When we see the bread broken and the wine
poured out, we are reminded that his body was
torn and broken upon the cross, and his blood
poured forth from his wounds, as a propitiatory
offering for the sins of the world. When we
take, and eat and drink, by another sense-the
sense of tasting-we are reminded of the grace
which flows from Christ, through the Spirit, to
the nourishing and strengthening of our souls.
As bread and wine, objects visible to the eye, by
the operation of the God of providence, affect
the taste and work invisibly in sustaining the





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life of those who eat and drink them, so grace is
a realization, a living power which works within
us, delightful to the taste and edifying to the
soul. Every act and every word, as exhibited in
the institution of the ordinance, is significant of
the power and grace of God, manifested in the
spiritual life of the " new man in Christ Jesus."
Are we exhorted to " taste and see that the
Lord is good?" (Psal. xxxiv, 8;) or to " eat that
which is good, and let our soul delight itself in
fatness?" (Isa. Iv, 2;) the meaning is, to seek
spiritual nourishment for our souls. And when
those who have been regenerated are represented as
having "tasted that the Lord is gracious," (1 Pet.
ii, 3,) or, in still stronger terms, " tasted the good
word of God, and the powers of the world to
come," (Heb. vi, 5,) who does not understand the
sense to be a spiritual experience and realization
of the grace of God communicated to the believing soul through faith in our Lord Jesus. Christ?
How significant, then, is the sacrament, as a
sign of that grace by-which God works invisibly
in those that believe, to refresh, nourish, and
strengthen them. In this sense, therefore, according to his declaration, he is present with his





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.        199
people-present in his Spirit, to nourish and
strengthen their souls, as the sign, bread, is
present and eaten to nourish and strengthen the
body. A mere commemoration of God's goodness
in providing bread for the hungry, will not impart strength to a starving man; he must
" taste "-" eat "-to satisfy his craving desire.
So would not Christ be the " bread of God,"
which the soul needs, if he were not " the living
bread" that " cometh down from heaven," and
present to " satisfy every longing soul" that believes in him.
It is important that we have a clear understanding of this point, to avoid confounding the
sign with the thing signified, and thus depriving
ourselves of the benefit we might otherwise experience from  a right observance of the ordinance. Let us, then, carefully distinguish in our
minds between the parts composed and how they
are composed. The bread, and its adaptation to
sustain and strengthen the life of the body, is
one part; Christ as a sacrificial offering for the
world, and his power and grace as the source
and support of the life of the soul, the other.
The bread is not the life of the body, nor a sign





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or representative of the life of the body. But it
is adapted to sustain life, when eaten, by a mysterious and invisible power with which the Creator has invested it; and we eat bread for the
purpose of sustaining life and gaining strength,
not because we perceive in it anything which indicates its use for this purpose, but solely on the
ground that experience has taught us that such
is the case.   When, therefore, the life and
nourishment of the body alone concern us, our
thoughts are limited to a consideration of bread
and its adaptation, by the God of providence,
to sustain and nourish the life of the body. This,
which is familiar to all persons, is the ground of
the comparison by which the sacrament is received as a sign, not of itself, but of what it
figuratively represents. In itself it has no virtue
or efficacy to nourish or strengthen the soul,
more than an ordinary meal. But it represents
Christ as the bread of life, according to his word;
and when received with faith in this revelation
which he has made of himself, affording us the
same assurance that this mystical bread is given
to sustain and strengthen the life of the soul, as
our experience does that "our daily bread" is





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.        201
given to sustain and strengthen the life of the
oody; our thoughts are directed to the spiritua
view of the thing signified, taking " Christ crucified " as the " living bread," and embracing in
our meditations all the benefits of his atonement
and mediation, which we experience through
" feasting on him by faith in our hearts," analogous to those we realize to meet our physical
wants and cravings by eating bread.     Thus
much for the sacrament as a sign.
Let it be observed, then, that the sign consists in a comparison of spiritual things with
those that are natural, by which they are seen
to have some resemblance the one to the other.
And these must be kept distinct in the mind, in
order to understand the import and design of
the institution, and be profited by it. It requires no violent effort to direct our thoughts in
the right train in this matter. If we*begin
right, and with a right understanding of the use
and design of such figurative language as is employed in the institution of the ordinance, the
process is natural and easy, and the result is
almost instantaneous. We see, and taste, and
feel the influence of the mental operation in the





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apprehension of the spiritual objects these natural and sensible signs are designed to represent,
with so much rapidity and so little effort, that
we are scarcely conscious of anything but the
result in confirming our faith concerning the
thing signified.
This view  of the institution of the Lord's
Supper is well illustrated by the parable of the
sower, as contained in the eighth chapter of
Luke, and elsewhere. That, parable was designed to explain the spiritual nature of the
Gospel, and its influences in producing the fruits
of righteousness in those who received it "into
good and honest hearts."   Here the process of
thought was commenced by the presentation of
a sower, with his sack of seed sowing it in his
field, an object so often visible to men's eyes
that it was familiar to all acquainted with the
rural pursuits of field husbandry. From   this
point the mind would naturally run to think of
the growth of the seed, "first the blade, then
the ear, after that the full corn in the ear."
Mark iv, 28. An abstract theorist might, indeed, linger to philosophize upon the mystery of
its germination and growth, in a way to bewilder





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.         203
and distract his mind, so as to disqualify it foi
such a reception of the truth as renders it instructive and edifying, to "good and honest
hearts" into which it is received. But our Lord
did not deliver his discourses to gratify speculating philosophers, but to instruct and edify
those who were disposed to "learn" of him with
meekness and humility. Upon the minds of
such, the facts set forth in the parable, intended
to illustrate the doctrine which he desired to inculcate by it, flashed, with the rapidity of intuition, after the first distinct object, the sower
sowing seed in his field, had taken sufficient possession of them. The sowing of seed upon unbroken soil, as a road rendered hard by the tread
of man and beast passing over it; or upon stony
ground, with no depth of soil to sustain its
growth; or soil already preoccupied with weeds,
which, if permitted to remain, would grow up
and choke the good seed, and defeat the object
of the sower; these points, I say, would present
themselves to the minds of unsophisticated
hearers with such distinctness and force as to
take entire possession of them, and engross for
the time all their powers of reflection. The





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next thing which would engage their attention
and interest their thoughts would be the sure,
though it might be various, result of sowing good
seed in a good and well cultivated soil, where
neither the hardness of the surface, nor the rock
underneath, nor the neglected weeds, would prevent its growth. The practical tendency of these
thoughts, superinduced by a presentation of the
prominent points of the parable thus far, would
be, in those influenced by merely secular considerations, to induce them to sow good seed
only in good ground.
These thoughts, taking possession of the mind
by the presentation to it of the sower, the seed,
and the varieties of soil in which it was sown,
would naturally suggest a consecutive train of reflections, such as the secret process by which
the production of the seed sown is brought
about; the benefit and necessity of the fruit of
it to sustain life and meet the wants of our
physical being; its adaptation to gratify the
cravings of hunger, and to refresh and comfort
those who are so happy as to obtain a competency of it, with all the other benefits which it
produces for our good. Here the mind of one





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.       205
influenced by no higher considerations than the
benefits which good husbandry, guided by the
known operations of natural laws in producing
fruit from the seed that is sown, will produce for
our physical well-being, would rest quietly, delighted with such a lesson of instruction on a
subject of interest to him. But this was not the
lesson our Lord intended to teach, nor any part
of it. The truths set forth by the parable were
well understood by those before whom he uttered
it; and because they were well understood by
them, and familiar to them, he uttered them in
explicit and impressive language in their hearing, that they might make a fresh and vivid impression upon their minds, and prepare them for
the spiritual instruction he was about to impart
to them, of truths and realities of which these
were only symbols or significant representations.
Thus he said, in explaining the parable: "The
seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are they that hear; then cometh the devil,
and taketh away the word out of their hearts,
lest they should believe and be saved. They on
the rock are they which, when they hear, receive
the word with joy; and these have no root, which
14





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for a while believe, and in time of temptation
fall away. And that which fell among thorns
are they which, when they have heard, go forth,
and are choked with cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
But that on the good ground are they which,
in an honest and good heart, having heard the
word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience." Luke viii, 11.
Let it be understood that this parable is not
adduced as explaining the nature of the sacrament as such. There are several things in the
institution of that ordinance, and essential to it
as a sacrament, which are peculiar to it, and
nothing else contained in the Scriptures, or elsewhere, can explain it as a whole. As such it has
no symbol or archetype. It stands alone, a
monument of the wisdom of Him who ordained
it for a special purpose. Perhaps this is all that
need be said to guard the reader against the
error of taking this illustration for anything more
than is intended by it. While it is not pretended that the parable of the sower is sufficient
to afford any adequate idea of the institution of
the sacrament as a whole, it is believed that it





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.         207
furnishes a well adapted illustration of its nature
and design as a sign, symbolically representing
the thing signified by it, as already shown at
large. And this is a point on which communicants need to be guarded more, perhaps, than
any other, for it has been productive of more
practical injury than any other.
The important point here is, that we distinguish clearly between the sign and the things
signified, so as to place no more reliance upon
the former for the benefit we hope to derive from
the ordinance, than it is proper to place upon
means used to obtain a blessing of which they
are no part. Thus there was nothing in the
parable uttered by our Lord, in itself considered,
calculated to meet the spiritual wants of the
world, or comfort the hearts of his disciples. It
was merely a declaration of certain truths, touching the manner of providing for our physical
wants, and could interest those who heard it
only in so far as a sense of their physical wants
influenced their feelings. But when the Saviour
proceeded to make an application of what he had
said concerning temporal things to things spiritual, they became interesting to those whose





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feelings were pressed by a sense of their spiritual
wants; not because any of the sensible objects
brought to view by the parable were adapted to
meet those wants, but as they were made a
means of presenting to their minds those more
desirable spiritual benefits; as attainable through
grace by the use of such means.
Our Lord's design was most explicitly declared in his explanation of the parable: "The
seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside, are they that hear; then cometh the devil,
and taketh the word away out of their hearts, lest
they should believe and be saved."  And so all
through we have his explicit declaration of what
lie meant by the words he used in the parable,
in their spiritual application, and also their symbolical representations, as indicating the things
signified. In this case it is morally impossible
to interpret the words of our Lord, " The seed
is the word of God," etc., literally. And yet
he so said, as explicitly as he said of the bread
he brake and gave to his disciples at the institution of the sacrament, " This is my body."  In,he parable he meant to be understood as saying,
" The seed represents the word of God," etc. So





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.        209
In the institution of the sacrament, he meant to
be understood as saying, when he broke the
bread and gave it to his disciples, " This represents
my body which is broken for you."  The adaptation of these visible objects in both cases, in
their nature and effects, to represent the things
they were used to indicate, was the reason, no
doubt, why they were so employed and so applied by the Saviour for that purpose. To be
benefited by the ordinance, then, we must distinguish clearly in our minds between the sign
and the things signified, and eat and drink by
faith in our hearts, with thanksgiving. This
faith looks through the sign to the things signifled-through the means to the end. It discerns
in the visible sign a representation of the Lord's
body, according to his word, " This is my body,"
etc., and also of the grace and benefits derived
to the soul when it is received of it in a truly
spiritual manner, because of the nature of bread
and wine to sustain life and refresh and comfort
those who receive them. And applying these
outward things to those that are invisible and
spiritual, which alone interest the humble communicant when he approaches the Lord's table,





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the believing heart of the recipient is refreshed
and strengthened, and his faith confirmed, not
by the sacrament he receives, or the act of receiving it, but by the grace which God is pleased
to bestow upon those who seek it by faith, in
the use of this ordinance as a means.
I have dwelt the longer upon this point, because it is to be feared that many, who conscientiously and habitually receive the sacrament, as
a duty enjoined upon them   by Christ, satisfy
themselves with observing it as a mere form.
There is no danger, as I have said before, that
any who have been instructed in the Protestant
faith will be liable to receive it as containing the
substance of the real body and blood of Christ,
as taught by the Church of Rome. According
to their view of it, the sacrament contains the
grace it signifies, and leaves no room to look for
anything beyond it, to be sought through the
use of it as a means. But what better is the
practical tendency of receiving the sacrament
with np view of its indicating anything beyond
it, to be sought through it as a sign, than receiving it with the delusive idea that it contains in
itself the grace and benefit we need? In neither





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.       211
case will the benefit be received. In the latter
it will not, because it is conceived by the recipient
to be contained in the ordinance, and received by
the act of partaking of it; and in the former,
because the mind of the receiver is satisfied with
a formal observance of the sign, as an act of
obedience to the command of Christ, without
realizing that the end of its'institution was to aid
him in obtaining the grace and benefits which it
does not contain in itself, but is only an instituted
means through which they are to be sought.
God forbid that I should give pain to any
professed disciple of the Saviour by an unnecessary expression of doubts as to the manner in
which the holy sacrament is habitually received
by many in our Protestant Churches. But may
it not be profitable for each communicant to
examine his own heart, and decide for himself,
whether he does not often, perhaps generally,
partake of it as a mere matter of form?
Whether he does not go to the.table of the Lord,
receive the symbols of the body and blood of
Christ, and return to his home and his business
without any consciousness of having had his mind
and heart occupied at all with meditations about





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the sufferings of Christ, the rich benefits of the
atonement, the grace needful to sustain and
strengthen his spiritual life, or in fact anything
of a higher religious tone or more spiritual tendency than that he has done his duty as a member of the Church, in confessing Christ in his
ordinance?  If this were all that was designed
by the institution, it is no wonder if it should become "a weariness" to us; and we be led to say,
"It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it
that we have kept his ordinances." Mal. iii, 14.
Such is the danger of not carefully distinguishing
in our minds between the sign and the things
signified, and using the former only as a means
of aiding us in the way God has appointed, to
seek and obtain the latter. It is the bread of
life and the wine of the kingdom    which our
souls need. These spiritual gifts are received by
faith. Our faith is aided and invigorated by
means of the sacrament as a sign. And as such
it is our duty and privilege to observe it habitually, as we are commanded to do; but always
only as a means instituted to aid us in seeking
the grace we need, lest after a long and unsatisfying course in the observance of it we come too





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.          213
late to see our error, and are constrained to take
ap the lamentation:
" But I of means have made my boast;
Of means an idol made;
The spirit in the letter lost,
The substance, in the shade."
But the sacramental character of the Lord's Supper is more particularly indicated by its being a
SEAL, as well as a sign. Both are necessary to
eonstitute it a sacrament.  Hence the exclusion
from the sacraments, by Protestants, of the five
mere rites or ceremonies which the Church of
Rome adds to baptism and the Lord's Supper as
such, because they were found not to possess
these essential elements.
Of the meaning of the term and its application
in this connection, it is enough to say that a seal
is "that which    confirms, ratifies, or makes
stable."  By his seal the sovereign confirms the
charter he gives to his subjects, and secures to
them the privileges he stipulates to grant them,
on condition always that they accept of it, and
comply with what it requires of them on their
part. Hence the institution of the sacrament
was a federal act, as a visible confirmation of





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God's covenant with believers, that he would be
their God, and secure to them all the blessings
promised in the covenant, on condition that they
continued steadfast in their love and obedience
to him. Thus, under the Old Testament dispensation, was circumcision a seal of God's covenant
with Abraham. "And he received the sign of
circumcision, the seal of the righteousness of
faith which he had yet in uncircumcision." Romn.
iv, 11. That is, being justified and made a partaker of the righteousness which is by faith, he
received circumcision as a sign or token of his
being in covenant with God; and a seal, as an
assurance on God's part, that he accounted him
righteous on account of his faith.
It is not important here to inquire how far the
sacramental rites of the former dispensation resemble those instituted by our Lord. We need
only to be impressed with this interesting truth,
that in both God is seen entering into covenant
with his people, and exhibiting for their acceptance a visible form of ratifying that covenant,
and confirming to those who comply with its
conditions the blessings and benefits it promises.
What I wish more particularly to have impressed





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.         215
upon the minds and hearts of professing Christians is the solemn obligations which they on
their part enter into by their acceptance and observance of this covenant rite. Those obligations
are, willingly and thankfully to accept of the
covenant, as significant of the atonement by the
vicarious and propitiatory death of Christ, which
they must steadfastly believe in order to be saved;
a lively exercise of faith in him as a present and
all-sufficient Saviour; an unqualified consecration
and surrender of themselves to God and his
service; love and obedience to Christ as their
Master, and " the Captain of their salvation;"
and the letting of their light shine before men,
that others may see their good works, and glorify
their Father which is in heaven. This implies a
hearty and sincere renunciation of all things else
for Christ, and a firm reliance on him, and him
alone, for that grace which is necessary to quicken
the soul into spiritual life, and to nourish and
strengthen it. All these things, let it be remembered, are duties which are binding upon us,
whether we acknowledge the obligation to observe them or not. But the peculiar force of the
obligation upon those who commune at the





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Lord's table is contained in their covenant vows
which it implies. This is a point to which we
cannot be indifferent without injury to our souls.
Christians! you who have been accustomed to
receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper at
every convenient opportunity since you first professed faith in him, have you ever seriously considered the solemn import of that act? You
speak of it familiarly among yourselves, and to
those without, as receiving the sacrament. But
did you ever ponder in your hearts what you
did, what vows and obligations you took upon
yourselves, when you received it? These were,
of course, always renewed and reassumed every
time you repeated it.
We have already noticed that the sacrament
was considered by the primitive disciples of
Christ in the light of an OATH. As such they
represented it to Pliny, who, in his letter to the
Roman emperor, says: "From their affirmations
I learned that the sum of all their offense, call it
fault or error, was, that on a certain day fixed
they used to assemble before sunrise, and sing
together, in alternate responses, hymns to Christ
as a deity; binding themselves by the solemn





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.       217
engagements of an oath not to commit any manner of wickedness."  That there was no form of
an oath in use among them on these occasions
except the uniform practice of ' breaking bread "
in a sacramental way, shows clearly that they
represented this to the Roman governor as having all the binding force upon their consciences
of a deliberate and solemn oath. And so it must
be considered by all Christians who view it in a
proper light.
This pledge, or solemn vow, is understood to
be made, not by one communicant to another,
pledging each to the other to do or avoid what
they mutually agree among themselves shall be
done or avoided by all; but it is by all to their
Lord and Master, whom they acknowledge as
such, and to whom they pledge themselves to
love and obey him with undivided affections and
undeviating fidelity all the days of their lives.
Of how solemn an import, then, is the holy
sacrament to those who view it as a seal of God's
covenant with his people; and the act of partaking of it as a pledge or oath of fidelity to Christ
as their Lord and Master in all things.
But the sacredness of this act is rendered still





218


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more impressive by the fact that the parties to
the covenant eat and drink together; or, in other
words, signify the sincerity of their professions
toward each other; the Master by preparing the
feast for his disciples, as a token of his love and
good-will toward them, and the disciples eating
and drinking in his presence as expressive of
their loyalty and love to him. In all ages and
all countries pledges made and ratified by the
parties eating together have been deemed inviolably sacred. As an instance of this the following
circumstance, among many others that might be
noticed, has sometimes been quoted: A young
nobleman, from Europe, was traveling in the
East, and in a conflict with the son of the ruling prince, he killed him. He immediately fled
for his life, but, being hotly pursued, he rushed
through a gate which happened to be open at
the time, into a spacious garden, and hid himself
in the retirement of its shady bowers. Here
after a time the proprietor discovered him, to
whom the unhappy youth made such a pathetic
appeal for protection that the heart of the prince
was moved with compassion toward him; and
plucking an apple from a tree near by, he divided





CONSIDERED AS A SACRA'MENT.      219
it, and ate with the stranger, as a confirmation of
a pledge he gave him for the protection he implored. The proprietor of the garden was himself the father of the youth who had been cruelly
murdered by the stranger whom he had vowed
to befriend and protect; and, on receiving tidings
of the death of his son, and that the murdei was
one of a most aggravating character, he repaired
to his garden, and thus addressed the murderer:
"Christian! he whom you killed was my son;
and you deserve the punishment of death, which
you ought to receive. But I have eaten with you,
as a pledge of friendship and protection, and cannot recall my vow. You are safe, agonizing as
it is to my wounded heart to spare you the punishment you deserve, because I am bound by a
pledge which all men hold sacred, that I will be
a friend to you in your distress;" and he pro.
vided him with an escort, to send him in safety
out of his dominions.
This circumstance, which has been published
in substance as I have related it, may be true or
false; but, whether true or false, it exhibits a
sentiment which exists, and has always existed,
almost universally among men respecting the





220


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sacredness of professions, covenants, and vows
made between parties, and ratified by the visible
sign of eating and drinking with each other.
Among all the reproaches cast upon the primitive Christians by heathen writers, who seemed
never so well pleased as when they could find
an occasion to contrast their moral principles
and practices with those which all men accounted
virtues, none was so deadly and difficult to refute as the treachery of Judas, from the fact that
he perpetrated his act of perfidy against his
Master immediately after eating with him, and
even had it in his heart to do it while they
supped together.   They said: "The apostles
were infamous publicans and abandoned sailors."
But this general calumny was easily refuted by
a reference to their holy lives and godly deportment, in contrast with which the lives and conduct of their proud accusers were disparaged in
the light of their own philosophy; for those good
men, by their integrity in faith  and holiness,
commended themselves to     every man's conscience, as examples of all that is true, and honest,
and just, and pure, and lovely, and of good report. The reproaches of their enemies, there




CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.        221
fore, did not harm them, nor injure the cause of
their Master. But the defection of Judas presented a more serious difficulty. So black and
infamous a crime as that of eating with a friend
with professions of love and fidelity toward him,
and then betraying him, it was alleged, had
never been committed by the worst of men; that
it indicated a depth of depravity and degradation
which showed a want of every principle of virtue, and that for its enormity it had no parallel.
The point to be keep in view here is, not that
Judas was denounced as the most depraved and
wicked man in the world, because he had betrayed
Christ, and thus caused him to be put to death.
There had been and were others guilty of acts
of treachery and cruelty of equal enormity in
themselves considered.  But the circumstance
which indicated the unmitigated wickedness of
his heart was, that he ate and drank with him,
thus pledging his love and fidelity as a disciple,
and then betrayed him. Thus it is that partaking of the sacrament is held, not only by Christians, but by those without, as a pledge, having
all the solemn import of an oath, to be true and
faithful in our love and obedience to Christ.
15





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What increases, if possible, the solemnity of
this transaction is, that the sacrament is a covenant rite.  " Covenants," says Mr. Watson,
" were anciently confirmed by eating and drinking together, and chiefly by feasting on a sacrifice.
In this manner Abimelech, the Philistine, confirmed the covenant with Isaac, and Jacob with
his father Laban. Gen. xxvi, 26-31; xxxi, 44 -46, 54. Sometimes they divided the parts of
the victim, and passed between them, by which
act the parties signified their resolution of fulfilling all the terms of the engagement, on pain of
being divided or cut asunder, as the sacrifice had
been, if they should violate the covenant. Gen.
xv, 9, 10, 17, 18; Jer. xxxiv, 18. When the
law of Moses was established, the people feasted
in their peace-offerings on a part of their sacrifice,
as a token of their reconciliation with God. Deut.
xii, 6, 7."
How significantly impressive was the institution of the Lord's Supper, as an ordinance recognizing in its very essence the great atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, when viewed as a
seal of the covenant into which God has been
pleased to enter with his people. ' Take, eat,"





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.       223
says Christ, " this is my, body which is broken
for you: this do in remembrance of me."  After
the same manner also he took the cup, saying: "This cup is the New Testament in my
blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." 1 Cor. xi, 24, 25. Can
language affirm more explicitly, that the covenant is sealed by the blood of atonement, which
he shed as a sacrifice for sin?
I cannot better conclude this part of my subject than in the language of that eminent and
profound theologian, Rev. Richard Watson. Of
the Lord's Supper, as a sacrament, he says: " The
SACRAMENTAL character of the ordinance is the
first point to be established, in order to a true
conception of its nature and import. It is more
than a commemorative rite; it is commemorative sacramentally; in other words, it is a commemorative sign and seal of the covenant of our
redemption.
" The first proof of this may be deduced from
our Lord's words used in the institution of
the ordinance. 'This is my body, this is my
blood,' are words which show a most intimate
connexion between the elements and that which





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was represented by them, the sacrificial offering
of the body and blood of Christ as the price of
our redemption; they were the signs of what
was ' given for us,' surrendered to death in our
room or stead, that we might have the benefit of
liberation from  eternal death. Again: 'This is
the New Testament,' or, covenant, ' in my blood.'
The covenant itself was ratified by the blood of
Christ, and it is therefore called by St. Paul 'the
blood of the everlasting covenant;' and the cup
had so intimate a connection with that covenant,
as to represent it and the me-ns of its establishment, or of its acquiring validity, the shedding
of the blood of our Saviour. It is clear, therefore, that the rite of the Lord's Supper is a covenant rite, and consequently a sacrament; a
visible sign and seal on the part of Him who
made the covenant, that it was established in,
and ratified by, the sacrificial death of Christ.
" As it bears this covenant or sacramental
character on the part of the institutor, so also on
the part of the recipients. They were all to eat
the bread in ' remembrance' of Christ; in remembrance, certainly, of his death in particular;
yet not as a mere historical event, but of his





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.         225
death as sacrificial; and therefore the commemoration was to be on their part an acknowledgment of the doctrine of the vicarious and
propitiatory nature of the death of Christ, and
an act of faith in it. Then as to the cup, they
were commanded to drink it, for a reason particularly given: 'For this is my blood of the
New Testament; which is shed for many for the
remission of sins;' the recognition, therefore, implied in the act, was not merely that Christ's
blood was shed, but that it was shed as the blood
of 'the new covenant,' and for 'the remission of
sins,' a recognition which could only take place
in consequence of 'faith in his blood,' as the
blood of atonement.
" Again, says St. Paul, as taught by the particular revelation he received as to the Lord's
Supper: ' For as often as ye eat this bread, and
drink this cup, ye do show,' or publish, 'the
Lord's death until he come,' which publication
of his death was not the mere declaration of the
fact of 'the Lord's death,' but of his death, according to the apostolic doctrige, as a true propitiation for sin, the benefits of which are to be
received by faith. Thus, then, we see in the





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Lord's Supper the visible token and pledge of a
covenant of mercy in the blood of Christ, exhibited by God, its author; and on the part of
man a visible acknowledgment of this covenant,
so ratified by the sacrifice of Christ, and an act
of entire faith in its truth and efficacy in order
to the remission of sins, and the conferring of all
other spiritual benefits. As a SIGN, it exhibits,
1. The infinite love of God to the world, who
gave ' his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth on him might not perish, but have
everlasting life.'  2. The love of Christ, who
'died, the just for the unjust, that he might bring
us to God.' 3. The extreme nature of his sufferings, which were unto death. 4. The vicarious and
sacrificial character of that death, as a sin-offering and a propitiation, in virtue of which only a
covenant of grace was entered into with man by
the offended God. 5. The benefits derived from
it through believing; 'remission of sins,' and the
nourishment of the soul in spiritual life and
vigor, by virtue of a vital 'communion' with
Christ, so that it is advanced and perfected in
holiness, 'until he come,' to confer upon his disciples the covenanted blessing of eternal life.





CONSIDERED AS A SACRAMENT.         227
"As a SEAL, it is a constant assurance on the
part of God of the continuance of this covenant
redemption in full, undiminished force from age
to age; it is a pledge to every penitent who believes in Christ, and receives this sacrament in
profession of his entire reliance upon the merits
of Christ's passion for forgiveness, that he is an
object of merciful regard and acceptance; there
is in it also, as to every one who thus believes
and is accepted, a constant exhibition of Christ
as the spiritual food of the soul, to be received by
faith that he may grow thereby; and a renewed
assurance of the bestowment of the full grace of
the new covenant, in the accomplishment of all
its promises, both in this life and that which is
to come.   In every celebration the sign of all
these gracious acts, provisions, and hopes is exhibited, and God condescends thus to repeat his
pledges of faithfulness and love to the Church of
Christ, purchased by his blood. The members
of that Church, on the other hand, renew their
acceptance of, and reliance upon, the new covenant; they publish their faith in Christ; they
glory in his cross, his sacrificial, though shameful
death, as the wisdom  of God and the power of





228          THE LORD'S SUPPER
God; they feast upon the true passover victim
by their faith, and they do this with joy and
thanksgiving, on account of a greater deliverance
than that of the Israelites from Egypt, of which
they are the subjects. It is the predominance of
thanksgiving in celebrating this hallowed rite,
which at so early a period of the Church attached to the Lord's Supper the title of ' the Eucharist.' "- Watson's Theological Institutes, vol.
ii, pp. 423-425.





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


229


PRACTICAL      REFLECTIONS.
I. WITH an earnest desire that this little work
may be useful in stirring up Christians to do all
their duty in the fear of God, I would call their
attention to a serious consideration of the impressive truth, which must appear plain from the foregoing remarks on the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper, that a religious observance of that ordinance by those who profess to be disciples of
Christ, is enforced by all the solemn sanctions
which involve our spiritual and eternal welfare.
Can one who has experienced the blessings of
pardon and peace through faith in Christ as his
Redeemer and Saviour, hope to "continue in the
grace of God," and gain heaven at last, while
from indifference or otherwise he habitually neglects to renew his covenant with Christ, by an
observance of the divinely instituted ordinance in
which he has promised to meet his people, and
renew to them his pledges of " grace, mercy, and





230


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


peace?"  Brethren beloved! think of these things.
It is no slight matter that we, the unworthy recipients of his grace, neglect his calls to a participation with him in the. festive rite which he has
instituted for our edification, and a renewal of
our covenant vows to be his forever.
But to be more particular. A     devout and
habitual observance of the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper is at the very head of the catalogue
of duties which are enjoined in the Scriptures
upon Christians. It is a covenant duty. It is a
sacrament. True, baptism is also a sacrament.
But the Lord's Supper, as a covenant institution,
is distinguished as paramount by this, that it is
to be repeated and habitually observed by the
disciples of Christ throughout their lives, as a renewal at each time of their profession of faith in
him, and a fresh consecration of themselves to his
service. All other duties, and ceremonies, and
religious observances practiced  by  Christians,
whether founded on a Scripture warrant or conventionally instituted without a Scripture warrant,
lacking the seal of the covenant, or the sign, or
both, fail to command our veneration and respect
as sacraments; and therefore, whatever importance





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


231


we may attach to any or all of them as means
of edification and spiritual improvement, the
Lord's Supper should never be permitted to occupy a place in our minds and hearts as less important and binding than the chief of them.
We may embrace in this remark the decalogue,
the ten commandments, written by the finger of
God upon tables of stone. These, indeed, are all
obligatory. No one of them can be broken without incurring the displeasure of God. No one
can neglect any duty they enjoin without periling
his soul. He who is guilty or delinquent in these
respects must be pardoned or perish. This truth
is felt by all who are enlightened in regard to
their religious duties. What profane swearer, or
Sabbath-breaker, or licentious person, though he
may profess religion, and be in the Church, can
rationally presume that he is in the favor of God,
and prepared for heaven? All right-minded
Christians know that he is not. They feel in
their souls that if they were guilty of habitually
neglecting the commandments, "Remember the
Sabbath-day to keep it holy," etc., they would
incur the Divine displeasure, and extinguish their
hope of heaven. Is there not reason to fear that





232


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


there are those in our Churches who, while they
are duly and deeply impressed with the awful
danger and fearful consequence of neglecting the
duties enjoined by the commandments inscribed
on tables of stone, and proclaimed amid the darkness and terrors of Sinai, are yet quite unconcerned about their habitual neglect of the solemn injunction of the Saviour, uttered at the very foot
of the cross, and recorded in the testament sealed
with his blood, " This do in remembrance of me."
The tender solicitude I feel that such may rightly
understand and sensibly realize the force of the
obligation upon them to fulfill the command of
the Saviour in regard to this sacrament, induces
me to dwell upon this point. I would press upon
them a serious consideration of the fact which I
have already stated, that a faithful observance of
the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is paramount
among all the duties enjoined in the Scriptures.
All duties are indeed binding. Those enjoined
by the commandments are especially so. But to
which of them has God appended the seal of his
covenant, in connection with an observance of
which he has promised to meet us, and pledged
his acceptance of us as his people, and his favor





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


233


toward us in the impartation of life and salvation
through faith in his name? Not one. The
young man in the Gospel who earnestly inquired
of the Saviour what he must do that he might
inherit eternal life, was referred to the commandments, with the intimation that an observance
of them was essential to that end. He said:
" Master, all these have I observed from my
youth up. Then Jesus beholding him loved him,
and said unto him, One thing thou lackest."
Mark x, 17-21. Sad thought! that an observance of all the commandments, in the letter only
of course, should fail, for lack of one thing, to secure an inheritance in the kingdom of God. But
so it was, and so it is. Christians under the
broad sunshine of the Gospel dispensation can
no more fit themselves to inherit eternal life by
keeping the commandments than the young man
who made his appeal to the Saviour could. The
reason is plain, that though the duties which the
commandments enjoin are all binding upon
Christians, and cannot be violated or neglected
without incurring guilt, none of them are honored
with the dignity of a sacramental institute, in
which the righteous and holy God condescends to





234


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


meet the humble performer of the prescribed
duty, and enter into covenant with him to pardon,
bless, and save him.
Herein, then, is the superior excellency of the
sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and the paramount importance to Christians to do whatsoever
the Lord has commanded them respecting it,
habitually, sincerely, devoutly. I need not repeat
here that we are not to trust in the mere act of
formally receiving the sacrament as possessing
any merit or virtue to render us acceptable to
God, more than any other religious duty performed in the same cold and formal manner.
But we are to observe it as a means of leading
our minds to the great atonement, and aiding us
in the exercise of faith in the efficacy of that
atonement to save us, and as the instituted ordinance in which Christ our Lord has promised to
meet us, to impart to us the spiritual life we need
to sustain our souls, and to renew his covenant of
grace and salvation with us. Surely if all were
duly impressed with a sense of the importance of
this duty, as it appears in this view of it, the indifference and neglect of many professing Christians respecting it would appear unaccountable





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


235


to themselves. Most earnestly would I urge all
such to turn their thoughts seriously and prayerfully to this matter, and recover themselves while
they may from the snare of the enemy.
There is another practical error growing out
of the low and imperfect views which too generally prevail respecting the nature and importance
of the sacrament, to which, in this connection, I
desire to call attention. It is the preference often,
if not generally, given to merely conventional
and arbitrary ceremonies and observances, as
means of spiritual improvement and edification,
above the divinely instituted ordinance which
God has appointed as a seal of his covenant with
his people. Different means may be used by
different persons and different associations t6
promote their spiritual edification, strengthen
them in their religious course, and fan the flame
of devotion in their hearts; and these may be
practised with more or less success, as they are
more or less adapted to the object sought to be
attained, and more or less accompanied with a
zeal and pious fervor which are always the concomitants of grace in the heart. Hence, the
primitive Christians had their love-feasts, though





236


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


not explicitly instituted by the Saviour, which, if
we may believe the testimony of Tertullian, were
conducted with much propriety, and productive,
as a social means of grace, of edification and
spiritual comfort. The Moravians and the Methodists have their love-feasts somewhat similar to
those of the primitive. Christians, but still more
simple, and sufficiently distinguished from them
to show that each was adapted to its own specific
purpose by those with whom it originated. The
class-meetings and band-meetings among the
Methodists, and covenant-meetings, conferencemeetings, social prayer-meetings, concerts for
prayer, etc., adapted as means of grace and
spiritual edification by different denominations,
are of the character intended in these remarks.
All these means have been owned of God in the
edification of those who have faithfully attended
them for purposes of spiritual improvement. Still
more, in later times voluntary religious meetings
have been established by laymen for merchants,
and the laboring classes, and young men, etc.,
and rules adopted for conducting them, so that
in some cases they have become, in a sort, permanent religious institutions. Against all or any





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


237


of these extraordinary means, God forbid that I
should utter a sentence or cherish an adverse
feeling. They have contributed much toward
keeping alive the spirit of piety in Christians,
and influencing others to become such. But is
there no danger that we may, by overrating
some one of these means, from our denominational partiality to them, or because they have
been rendered a particular benefit and blessing
to us, be led to undervalue and neglect that
catholic ordinance which was instituted for all,
and the observance of which is enjoined upon all
who love our Lord Jesus Christ in every age and
every branch of his Church? Is there not reason
to believe that this has been, and now is, the case
with many who are not aware of the consequences
of it, in the loss of that spiritual nourishment to
their souls which a better view and more faithful
observance of the sacrament would ensure?
I have, in many instances, observed Church
members, who, when a love-feast was to be held,
could not be restrained on any account from attending it, but would press through every difficulty to enjoy the privilege, and at the same
time manifest little or no interest to be present
16





238


THE LORD'S SUPPEE.


at the Lord's table. Some I have known who
were always present at the love-feasts, and watchnights, and on other similar occasions, indicating
the esteem in which they held these institutions
as means to promote their religious enjoyment,
by the unrestrained fervor and animation which
they exhibited in their religious exercises, who
would even retire from the church when the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was about to be administered, with the utmost apparent indifference.
This manifest preference for the institutions and
provisional arrangements adopted by the various
denominations of Christians for their spiritual
improvement, is no doubt witnessed more or less
in all Churches. Indeed it is not uncommon to
hear the members of the different denominations
speak with earnestness and animation of the exercises on such occasions in a way to indicate that
they are esteemed by them as the principal, if
not the only means of quickening and reviving
believers, and drawing sinners to Christ, when
they are seldom heard to mention a sacramental
occasion as a season that interests their feelings
at all. Are not these things so? Nay, more,
is not this spirit of indifference to this sacramental





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


2389


institution of Christ, and preference for novel
and voluntary modes of worship, increasing in
the Churches? The example has become contagious, and its effects are seen in the increasing
number of persons who profess to be converted,
but neglect to connect themselves with any
Church.   Forty years ago such a case was
scarcely known. Each new convert inquired,
" Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"  And
no one thought of omitting, beyond the first opportunity, the solemn covenant rite of the Lord's
Supper, in communion with some branch of the
Church, in obedience to the command, " This do
in remembrance of me."   But it is not so now.
I have at this moment in my mind many endeared friends, whom I have seen at the altar of
prayer, and, renewed by grace, heard utter praise
and thanksgiving to God for his pardoning
mercy. Like other redeemed spirits, they were
zealous for God, earnestly persuading all to whom
they could have access to seek the Lord. But
for some cause they remain without the pale of
the Church, and totally neglect its ordinances.
Since the commencement of the great revival
which has spread over the country, instances of





240


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


this kind have been multiplied, and the truth
cannot be disguised that many, very many, of
the most hopeful and promising subjects of it
have never yet connected themselves with any
Church, or taken upon themselves the sacramental
vows of a covenant-keeping God. Is it not evident
that this state of things has been produced principally, if not wholly, by the laxness and apparent
indifference of Church members in regard to the
sacrament of the Lord's Supper?  There can be
no doubt of it. And the fact that it is so furnishes a cogent reason for renewed effort on the
part of the Churches to resuscitate in their membership the spirit, in regard to the holy sacrament, which actuated the primitive Christians.
In order to this, let the nature and importance
of the -Lord's Supper, as a sacrament, be duly
considered. Let all who love our Lord Jesus
Christ bear it constantly in mind that this sacrament was instituted in form  by the Saviour, as
a covenant rite, in which he has condescended to
become a party, and pledges on his part to fulfill
all his " great and precious promises " to his people, on condition that they fulfill what is required
on their part. He has not only made, in the





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


241


form of the ordinance, a visible exhibition of the
substance of the rite and its spiritual import, or
the things signified by it, but he has superadded
words of institution, and a promise by which the
two are connected together. Hence it is that we
have an assurance, in this act of drawing nigh
to God, that our offering, if rendered in faith, is
acceptable, and our covenant relations to our
God renewed and confirmed.     Would that I
could present the practical importance of this
view of the subject with sufficient clearness and
force to cause it to be felt by all the members of
the Churches of our common Lord. Sure I am,
if they saw it as it appears to me, the table of
the Lord would be the last means of grace they
would neglect.
II. One of the benefits to be derived from a
right observance of the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper is, that of all our religious duties it is
most eminently adapted to confirm and strengthen
our faith. By this I mean " the faith which
works by love and purifies the heart." " Faith
cometh by hearing." Rom. x, 17. It comes,
also, by seeing, and tasting, and meditation.
Particularly in this ordinance is it so.





~42


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


If I were inquired of, as I sometimes am, what
are the essential doctrines of the Gospel? understanding it to mean the doctrines essential to be
impressed with more or less clearness upon our
minds in order to salvation, I would deem  it a
sufficient reply to say, those which are indicated
in the institution of the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper. They are, as every experienced Christian
knows, the same which powerfully wrought in his
mind and heart when he was brought to accept of
Christ as his Redeemer and Saviour, and received
the witness of his adoption as a child of God.
When the Philippian jailer inquired, " What
must I do to be saved?" the apostles replied,
" Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved." Acts xvi, 30, 31. He believed
and was saved. His faith embraced all that was
essential to salvation. What more entered into
it need' not perplex or trouble any one. It is
enough to know that all that was essential did
enter into it, and work to the deliverance of his
soul from  the thraldom of sin. But what was
this faith that wrought so powerfully in him?
Surely not a mere belief in the truth of the history of Christ's advent, or his working miracles,





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


243


or his death and resurrection. It was a faith in
the efficacy of his passion and death as a propitiatory offering for sin; in the soul-inspiring truth
that his body was broken for sinful man, and
his blood shed for the remission of sins; that he,
by reason of his bearing our sins in his own
body on the tree, became the author of eternal
salvation to them that believe; and with such a
faith he was enabled to receive and trust in him
as an all-sufficient Saviour, and realize, in the
sense of pardon and peace which was communicated to his soul through the Spirit, the truth of
the apostles' answer: " Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved."  Every soul
tlhat has been thus awakened and converted can
attest that such is the nature of a true saving
faith. And it is in this that the living and growing Christian stands fast in the Lord. While he
has a lively view of the Saviour, as he saw him
when he first believed, he enjoys peace in his
soul, and is strong in the Lord. Does not this,
then, embrace what is essential to salvation?
Truths there are scattered all through the Scriptures, which tend to edification and comfort, as
they are presented to the minds of those who,





244


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


by continuing in the faith, "grow in grace and
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
But all the essentials, which form the groundwork of a Christian experience, are those above
named. How important is it, then, that they
should have a living, abiding place in our hearts.
To be shaken in our minds with respect to any
of these is like the removal of the foundation of
a building. It endangers thie whole structure.
But these remaining in all their vital strength,
the temple of our experience is built up and
beautified by every addition that is made to it.
Now let Christians consider how wonderfully
the Lord has adapted the institution of the sacrament to keep alive in their minds and hearts
these essential elements of saving faith. Take
every word, every act, which together constitute
the ordinance as prescribed by the Master. All
present to the mind some indication of the essential object of saving faith, "Christ and him crucified," whose blood was shed for the remission
of sins. Having dwelt upon this point at some
length in another place, it is not necessary to
repeat my remarks here. It is its practical importance which I desire to enforce. All know





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


245


how liable newly converted persons are to be
lured from the simplicity of the Gospel by plausible errors, thrust upon them by the art and
cunning of false teachers. With this departure
from first principles the affections lose their
hold upon the' Saviour. Their feelings become
languid, and their love grows cold. And then
comes the danger of being turned to fables.
The means of religious instruction to which they
are drawn may be, and often are, a mixture of
truth and error, in which thereis such a preponderance of the latter as to wholly obscure and
neutralize the former.  Thus are their souls
robbed of the bread of life, and as Paul said in
regard to some at Corinth, who seem   to have
fallen in precisely this way, " For this cause many
are weak and sickly among you, and many
sleep." 1 Cor. xi, 30.
The time has arrived in the progress of the
Redeemer's kingdom    when pure religion has
little to fear from open infidelity, with its blank
denial of the Bible, and scoffing ridicille of all
that is lovely and of good report. But it has
the more to fear from the insidious workings of
the same enmity to the doctrines of the cross





246


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


which characterized the infidelity of former times,
in another form.
The increasing harmony among "orthodox"
Christians is one of the marked events of the
age. It is the rainbow of promise to the wise
and good, who have mingled their fervent
prayers around the throne for the coming of
Christ's kingdom on earth. But few, perhaps,
who have hailed with glad hearts these indications of a purer and holier catholicity among the
members of Christ's body on earth, have examined with care the vital principles which bind
them to him and to one another, and distinguish
them from all others. These principles constitute the " orthodox" faith; and their efficacy in
experience is so potent, that the most simplehearted believers realize their power to attract
them to their common Head, and bind them  in
sympathy and affection to the common brotherhood of the " household of God," as the needle
is attracted to the pole. This inward power is
the bond of union among the saints of God.
And what I wish to remark here is, that by the
strictest investigation it will be found that the
faith in which all these agree, and for which,





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


247


with heart and soul, they are wont earnestly to
contend, is that embraced in the ritual of the
sacrament. On other points of difference with
their fellow Christians, and with others, they can
be liberal, and yield rather than contend. But
here they are firm. And this, perhaps, is the
reason why the "orthodox," as such, are denounced as bigoted and illiberal by those who
discard this anchorage of their hope. But the
converse of all this is seen in those who make
common cause against " orthodox" Christianity,
as professed by the evangelical Churches. The
fact is suggestive and admonitory, that the parties
and institutions which have sprung into existence
in the name of religion, and which have seduced
from  the bosoms of the evangelical Churches
many who had " run well for a season;" have all
been distinguished for their united opposition to
the doctrines which are interwoven in the institution of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
If we begin with the Arians of former times,
and take in the range of our observation the
Socinians, Swedenborgians, Unitarians, Hicksite
Quakers, Universalists, Shakers, Adventists, Spiritualists, Mormons, etc., all of whom have their





248


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


organized societies, religious creeds or principles,
and places and forms of worship, and make proselytes from the evangelical Churches, some of
them from the Churches mainly, we shall find,
without exception, that all attack, as fundamental errors to be discarded by those who
adhere to them, the doctrines which are so irnpressively presented in the ordinance of the sacrament. We pity those who have been lured
from the simplicity of the Gospel by these delusions. We have friends among them. Once
we took sweet counsel with them. They walked
with us to the house of God. Our hearts burned
within us while we talked with them of the
sufferings of Christ, and the glory he has promised to his faithful followers. They had power
with God in prayer, and were useful in all their
labors to strengthen the weak and confirm the
wavering. But a change has come over them.
Some are quite gone astray, and now indulge in
bitter revilings against their former brethren, and
the institutions they professed most ardently to
love. Others still linger around the altars where
once their devotions glowed with a holy ardor;
but there is now no life, no spirit in them. By





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


249


degrees they are departing in sympathy and
affection from the institutions they once loved,
and the brotherhood in which they were stimulated to increased exertions for higher attainments in piety and holiness; and our concern
for their safety is heightened by the fact that
their zeal and devotion to promote the errors by
which they have been ensnared, and the institutions which sustain them, is increased just in proportion to the abatement of their affection and
esteem for the institutions and the people they
once loved.
I allude to these facts for the purpose of impressing Christians who still "stand fast in the
Lord," with the importance of a steady and faithful observance of this ordinance, in a way to
keep alive in their minds and hearts the doctrines set forth in it as fundamental and efficacious in sustaining the life of the soul, and
strengthening their faith in those doctrines. Is
it not reasonable to conclude, that if the multitudes who have " departed from     the faith,"
through  the instrumentality of false teachers
and delusive errors, had steadfastly adhered to
the Saviour's command, "This do in remem




250


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


brance of me," and at every opportunity brought
their minds and souls into communion with the
doctrines of the cross as they are exhibited in
the ordinance of the sacrament, they would have
been shielded against the attacks of error so
ruinous to theii piety, by any of the weapons it
has ever employed?"  " Let him that thinketh
he standeth take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor. x, 12.
We know not the danger of losing sight for a
moment of the life-sustaining doctrines of " Christ
crucified."  To guard this point, let all come to
the means which Christ has ordained to help
and strengthen us. It is the armor God has
provided, and it will protect the faithful.
III. There is another large and increasing
class of persons whom I wish earnestly and affectionately to address on this subject. I mean
those who have been brought to the knowledge
of God through faith in Christ, and made profession of that great and glorious change before
the world, but have never connected themselves
with any Church, and seem content to live in
total neglect of the ordinances instituted by
Christ as both a badge of the good man's profession, and a sign and seal of God's covenant





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. 2Ib1


251


with his people. How can a Christian do this
[low can one who has " tasted that the Lord is
gracious," retain his spiritual life, and " grow up
in Christ," in spiritual knowledge and holiness,
who habitually and of choice neglects his explicit
command in respect to this sacrament: " This
do in remembrance of me?"
We would not rashly condemn all such persons as willful neglecters of duty. But we earnestly entreat them  to review the reasons which
have influenced them to refrain from connecting
themselves with the sacramental hosts of the
Lord's anointed, and serving him in the way
he has appointed. It is plainly their duty to
connect themselves with some evangelical branch
of the Church of Christ, that they may let their
light shine before the world, and enjoy the covenant blessings which God has promised to his
people.
There are causes in operation at the present
time which tend to increase this evil, and render
it the more important that the attention of those
concerned should be called to it. Freedom of
thought and choice in matters of religion is
claimed by all, and accorded to all. With this





252


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


right to choose as to the mode in which they
will worship God, some seem to feel that it is
a matter of indifference whether they worship
him in any of the modes practiced by the different branches of his Church or not. Let all
such bear in mind that though they have a right
to choose for themselves ini matters which are
not essential, whether they are such as others
agree to or not, they are not at liberty to choose
whether they will or will not observe the ordinances which are explicitly enjoined by the great
Head of the Church, and binding upon all his
followers, without forfeiting their title to the covenant mercy of God, and their adoption as his
children. This truth their own experience will
sooner or later demonstrate. I would urge them
by the love of Christ, and their desire to save
their souls, to avoid this snare of the enemy.
Some there are who appear to think that all
Church organizations are a kind of bondage,
which restrict them in the exercise of their freedom; and because it is most congenial to their
sentiments and feelings to be bound by none of
them, they remain without the fold.    Others
see, or think they see, many things in the





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


253


Churches and Church members which they do
not approve, and therefore choose to stand alone.
Others, -still, see difficulties in the Churches
which give pain and grief to the faithful, and require labor and care on their part to settle them,
and they refrain from connecting themselves with
any of them on that account. Unlike Moses,
they choose rather not to suffer affliction with
the people of God. And in addition to all these,
especially since the commencement -of the great
revival through the country, many have been
awakened and converted through the instrumentality of laymen, and in connection with associations and meetings under the control and conduct of laymen, which means the Spirit has
honored in its operations upon the hearts of the
people, as well in the quickening and edifying of
the recently converted, as in the awakening and
conversion of others. Many of these naturally
feel that as they can enjoy a sense of the favor
of God apart from    the Church, there is no
necessity of Church privileges to retain this
blessed experience, and thus they continue to
neglect seeking a sanctuary with the people of
God in his house, not considering that they need
17





254


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


the established means of grace ordained by God.
to nourish and strengthen them in their new and
spiritual life. To all such persons, everywhere,
I most affectionately appeal in the name of Him
who has "called them out of darkness into his
marvelous light," that they will " consider the
Apostle and High Priest of their profession,"
and not slight the means he has instituted for
their edification and comfort. Whatever else he
has left to their choice, in the exercise of their
religious freedom, he has commanded them to
"remember" himin the ordinance of the Eucharist.  In this ordinance he has provided that
their hearts and minds shall be brought into a
connection with those fundamental truths which
exhibit him as their Redeemer and Saviour, in a
way to present him as they saw him when they
were made partakers of his grace, and adopted into
the family of God. In it, also, he has covenanted
to meet with his people, to strengthen their faith
and comfort their hearts. There are no advantages to be gained, spiritually, by remaining out
of the Church, and no considerations among all
that men plead as reasons for neglecting to take
upon them the covenant obligations of Church





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


255


members, that can compensate for the loss of
the spiritual blessings vouchsafed to those who,
like Zachariah and Elizabeth,  walk blameless
in all the ordinances of the Lord;" much less to
acquit them of the guilt of disobedience in neglecting what the blessed Master has commanded
them to do. Brethren beloved! think of these
things. " Ye are my friends," said Jesus, "if ye
do whatsoever I command you." John xv, 14.
Some abstain from joining the visible Church
from what appear to them motives of piety.
They see much imperfection in Church members,
and much sinfulness in the Church, therefore
they will stand apart. But do they not forget
that Christ has uttered the express command,
" Do this in remembrance of mel?"  And do they
consider disobedience to Christ a mark of superior
piety? On the contrary, do they not assume a
position of permanent lifelong disobedience to
Christ, and therefore of permanent impiety? There
may be imperfection in Church members, but is
it not something worse than imperfection deliberately to determine to stay out of the Church? that
is, to avoid the fold of Christ, and to repudiate
all his ordinances. If the Church be too wicked





256


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


for you to enter it, is not the world too wicked
for you to stay in it? Would it not be wiser,
humbler, more childlike, more Christlike, to believe that, so far from his Church being unworthy
of you, you may hardly be worthy of it? While
you condemn the imperfections of others, are you
not manifesting a deeper imperfection? Would it
not be better for you to enter the Church, and,
if possible, in your own example, show what you
think a church member ought to be? And are you
not mistaken in supposing that you will be more
pious out of than in the Church? I think that
such is never the case. During an experience of
forty-eight years in the ministry I have never
known an instance of a person of superior piety
who persisted in maintaining a position out of
the Church of Christ. On the contrary, those
who have neglected the obligation of entering into
visible covenant with God's people have uniformly
declined in piety and often lost their religion.
If all Christians did like you Christ's sacraments would die. The communion of his body
and blood would perish. A crucified Christ ceases
from the world. Thereby the Church which he
has instituted, and which he has bought with his





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


25-7


own blood and endowed with sacraments, becomes extinct. The body of Christ is slain, and
by 'ou is crucified afresh. Is not that Church,
with all its imperfections, the hope of the world?
Does it not preserve for you the Scriptures, the
Sabbath, the preaching of the everlasting Gospel,
the Baptism, and the Communion?     With all
these is she not the means of your conversion? is
she not your spiritual mother? Then do not, by
your own course, leave her to perish. Perform
your part in transmitting her to future generations
and in spreading her power over all the earth.
IV. The very sacredness of this ordinance deters many sincere and conscientious persons from
receiving it. They are impressed with a sense
of their unworthiness; and when they remember
that it is said,  He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself," (I Cor. xi, 29,) they apply it to their own
case, and judge it better to refrain from communing at the Lord's table than to peril their souls
by the possibility of eating and drinking " unworthily." The case of this class of Christians
claims our sympathy and attention. We cannot
think of their condition without feeling a desire





258


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


that they may be rescued from the snare in which
their own pious scruples have entangled them.
Let us then say to all such that the admonition
and rebuke of the apostle to certain members of
the Church at Corinth, were not designed for
persons who, like themselves, have humiliating
views of their religious attainments; but for those
of a directly contrary character, the self-confident
and profane, who, at the sacramental feasts, " feed
themselves without fear," to gratify their carnal
appetites. This is plainly shown from the scope
of the apostle's remarks on this subject, in his
letter to the Corinthians. Take that section of
his epistle which contains the alarming passage
alluded to, and examine it, comparing word
with word, and sentence with sentence, from beginning to end, and then judge what class of
the communicants he intended to admonish and
rebuke by those impressive words: "He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh
damnation to himself."   He begins with the
grave charge against them, that when they came
together in the church to celebrate the passion
and death of Christ, there were divisions among
them; and they came in parties, each section or





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


259


party bringing provisions with them for a feast,
which they prepared and ate, one before another;
as at an ordinary feast, they ate and drank without restraint, and some to excess. And thus,
while they professed to celebrate the Lord's Supper, they substituted a carnal feast, in nowise calculated to produce in their minds those pious
thoughts and religious sentiments which the
sacrament was designed to inspire. This perversion of the ordinance the apostle condemns;
and to show how inconsistent it was with every
just idea of the nature and design of the sacrament, he presents that institution, as he had received it by revelation, in all its simplicity and
beauty, as the ordinance of God, which could not be
profaned and disparaged, as it was by the conduct
of these Corinthians, without incurring his displeasure and the penalty of his righteous judgment.
By eating and drinking unworthily, the apostle
evidently meant eating and drinking as these Corinthians did, without restraint, irreverently, profanely. Such the most humble and self-abased of
our diffident, non-communing professors will surely
admit it to be, without any apprehension that they
are liable to fall under the condemnation it incurs.





260


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


In this view of the subject: we perceive the con
nection betveen the crime-eating and drinking
" unworthily," and the penalty denounced-" eateth and drinketh damnation to himself."  Let
it be observed that the word "damnation" here
is not to be taken in its ordinary sense to mean
eternal damnation, but, as it should be rendered,
"judgment," which is generally used in the
Scriptures to signify the punishment which God
inflicts upon men for particular sins in this life,
as a visible token of his displeasure on account
of those sins. Thus intemperance is punished
by the just judgment of God in the wreck and
ruin of the inebriate. It is God's penalty, and
so connected with the crime in the administration
of his righteous judgments, that we hesitate not
to say of the confirmed drunkard, "he is drinking his own ruin."  So of the voluptuous Corinthians who had turned the feast of the Lord
into an occasion of dissipation, instead of eating
and drinking to their spiritual edification, which
a right observance of the sacrament was calculated to produce, and, with the promised blessing
of God upon it, was sure to produce; they ate
and drank to their own condemnation and misery,





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


261


as their carnal indulgences, with God's threatened
judgment against them, were, by a law of Divine
Providence, sure to be followed by such results.
Already there were examples among them of the
truth of this fearful denunciation. "For this
cause," says the apostle, " many are weak and
sickly among you, and many sleep," that is, are
dead.
Believing that the words of the apostle, "he
that eateth and drinketh unworthily," etc., were
intended to he applied to the abuse of the ordinance by the Corinthians, as above stated, and to
those in all ages who like them  profane it by
such irreverent practices, and not to sincere professors who have no desire but to use it for the
glory of God and the benefit of their own souls,
I submit these thoughts for their consideration
and comfort.
But if any yet believe that the threatened
judgment for eating and drinking unworthily
has a broader application, and may embrace the
unworthiness which they attach to themselves, I
ask their attention to a few additional remarks.
In the first place, let them bear in mind what
has already been stated, that the word udam




262


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


nation," in this connection, does not mean eternal
damnation, but judgment merely, by which is
meant a visitation of God, which may consist in
inflicting suffering of some kind, or wiithholding
the blessings which a right use of his ordinances
authorizes to expect, as the penalty of failing or
coming short of his requirements in our approaches to him  in this ordinance. A   right
understanding of this will remove all those apprehensions which awe and restrain many serious
persons when they think of the subject of communing at the sacrament, lest they should err in
their judgment of their fitness for it, and seal
their damnation by presumptuously partaking of
it. There is no danger of this. It cannot be.
One may commune unworthily, as some of the
Corinthians did; and if he continue to do so,
and do not repent, he will be finally cast off and
perish. But no one act, not even such as the
Corinthians were guilty of, is the unpardonable
sin. Let none then be restrained from approaching the table of the Lord, and communing with
his people, from  an ungrounded apprehension
that to do so, even "unworthily," is the greatest of
all sins-the sin for which there is no forgiveness.





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263


Another thing to be noticed in this connection
is, that the meaning of the term 1" unworthily,"
as used here by the apostle, has been, perhaps
very generally, misapprehended by the class of
persons for whose benefit these remarks are intended. To be worthy to do an act is a thing
quite different from doing it worthily. The former implies merit or worth in ourselves, to entitle us to claim the right to do it, without acknowledging our obligation to any one for the
privilege; the latter supposes that we perform
what we do in a manner suited to the object.
Moses was not worthy of the honor of making
the tabernacle; but he acted worthily in making
it after the pattern which God gave him, because
he acted in obedience to the command of God,
and performed as a faithful and willing servant
the work which was assigned him. Let this distinction be constantly kept in mind, and there
will be no danger of our being deterred from
what our blessed Lord has commanded us to do,
In the manner and spirit which he requires, because of any sense of unworthiness in ourselves.
To do an act worthily by the requirement and
directionl of another, ` to do it cheerfully accord




264


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


ing to his will and pleasure. If we fail to do his
will, and subvert his designs to gratify ourselves,
we do it unworthily. The Corinthians ate and
drank unworthily, because they conducted in a
way unworthy of their profession as the servants
of Christ, and of the service he claimed of themto acknowledge him in the holy ordinance he had
instituted and commanded them to observe.
But the apostle says: " Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink
of that cup." 1 Cor. xi, 28. Why, it may be inquired, if the unworthiness of which he speaks
respects the act of communicating, and not the
state of the communicant, are we required to
examine ourselves? The answer is, that to avoid
eating and drinking unworthily, we must be influenced by right views of the nature and design
of the ordinance, and pure motives in partaking
of it; and this requires previous self-examination.
But this examination regards our faith in the
atonement as necessary to salvation, and the sincerity of our motives in coming to this ordinance
as the instituted means which God has appointed
for our spiritual edification, and not the degree
of personal holiness we may possess, as a qualifi




PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


265


cation for acceptably communing at the Lord's
table. Do we believe in our hearts that Christ
died for us? that he is the propitiatory offering
which alone God will accept on our behalf? that
our only hope of pardon and salvation is in the
atonement he has made for us? that he is our
Advocate with the Father, and our High Priest,
who ever liveth to make intercession for us? and
that he has ordained and instituted this holy
sacrament as a means of reviving and keeping
alive in our minds these sacred truths, and has
promised to meet with his people in this ordinance to strengthen their faith and comfort them
with his grace?  All this we must steadfastly
believe in order to be prepared acceptably and
profitably to commune at the Lord's table.
Our motives, too, must be right. We must
feel our need of the grace promised to the faithful partaker of the holy sacrament, and approach
the table of the Lord with a sincere desire to receive that grace. Our sole object and aim must
be to glorify God, and receive spiritual benefit to
our souls. These views and feelings, influencing
our minds and hearts, constitute the fitness which,
in the nature of the case, is required as a prepa




266


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


ration to receive the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper. And to be so prepared, it is important
that our approach to that sacred ordinance should
be preceded by a close and faithful self-examination as to our faith and motives, which must
be right in order to our profiting by it.
The fatal error of the Corinthians was that
they did not discern the Lord's body. The design of the ordinance, to exhibit "Christ crucified" as the only ground of the sinner's hope,
did not once enter into their thoughts. For this
reason they were disqualified to profit by it.
They could not profit by it. They had neither
the faith nor the motives necessary to profit by
it. And whoever, like them, shall approach it
without a sense of their need of salvation, and
faith in the sacrificial offering of Christ upon the
cross as the only ground of their hope, will, by
not discerning the Lord's body, fail to receive the
grace and comfort of which it is a means to those
who partake of it by faith with thanksgiving.
But this error, so fatal to the Corinthians, need
not be a stumbling-block to any sincere person
who desires to please God in eating "this bread"
and drinking "this cup," however unworthy in





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


his own estimation he may be. Let him examine
himself, not to judge of his attainments in piety
and holiness as a qualification for receiving the
holy sacrament, but to bring all his thoughts and
feelings to the one point of preparing to seek
Christ in his ordinance, by such an exercise of
faith in his passion and death as shall assure him
that his offering is accepted and he approved
of God.
" Come," brethren, you who have been lingering here, and still stand trembling at the porch
of the sanctuary without daring to approach the
altar; "Come, let us reason together."  Once
you lingered with a sense of your unworthiness,
and feelings of awe and trembling, when you
were pressed to come to Christ himself, who
appeared, even to you, more sacred and holy than
the ordinance to which he now invites you. Had
you then, as now, refused to come till you felt
you were worthy to claim fellowship with him,
you would never have come, never have experienced the grace which he has promised to all
true penitents who do come to him, and "1 believe
to the saving of their souls." Heb. x, 39. But
feeling your need of salvation, and that there is





THE LORD'S SUPPER.


" no other name given under heaven among men
whereby we must be saved," (Acts iv, 12,) you
did come to him. You came with fear and
trembling, but also with faith and hope. Your
very sense of unworthiness was your fitness. So
you felt it to be. You were " heavy laden" with
a sense of guilt and pollution, and when you
heard him say, " Come unto me all ye that labor,
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,"
(Matt. xi, 28,) you came, believed, and were
saved. O what a mercy that such unworthy,
guilty, polluted beings should be permitted to
come to 'the holy and blessed Jesus, and be
saved! He came into the world to save sinners.
Now what think you? Is his ordinance more
holy than himself? Are you more unworthy to
come to it than you were to come to him?
Ponder these things in your hearts. He invited
you to come to him, not because you were
worthy, but because you needed "salvation, and
he alone could save you. He came "not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Matt.
ix, 13. He invites you to the feast of the sacrament, not because you are entitled to it by any
worthiness in yourselves, but because he has in




PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


269


stituted it as a means to nourish and strengthen
your souls in faith and love. And your fitness
to come is your sense of the want of such grace
as he has promised to those who receive it with
faith in his promise, that he will meet with them
and bless them. Banish your fears then, and
with humility and faith come and own your Lord
and Master at his table. Come the very next
opportunity that offers, and the next, and the
next, and continue to come at every opportunity.
Let no considerations of business, or pleasure, or
anything else prevent you, and God will bless
you in it.
V. Let all who are accustomed to receive the
sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and thus publicly profess their faith in Christ and their connection with his Church, duly consider the obligation such a public profession imposes upon
them to live before the world " in all godliness and
honesty." 1 Tim. ii, 2. This requires strict selfexamination, not only as to our faith and motives,
but particularly our tempers and conduct, both
before and after communing.    There are two
reasons why professors should be circumspect and
watchful in regard to their outward deportment.
18





THE LORD'S SUPPER.


One is, that an unholy life disqualifies us for the
reception and enjoyment of grace in our hearts,
however earnestly we may seek it by a steady
and persevering attendance upon all the ordinances of God's house. He, therefore, who
would be spiritually benefited by coming to the
Lord's table, must approach it with a conscience
unburdened by the guilt and stains of outward
sins. How important is it then that we walk
uprightly in all things, and keep our conscience
clear in the sight of God. Another reason is,
that the unholy lives of professors are cause of
reproach and scandal, which infidels and scoffers
employ to justify their opposition to the cause of
Christ, and strengthen the bands of wickedness
in the earth. To confess Christ at his table, and
at the same time indulge in such practices as
even the world calls sinful, is to wound him in the
house of his friends. We are required by him
to " walk even as he walked."    1 John ii, 6.
Sinners know what lives Christians ought to live;
and they are ever ready to seize upon any act or
evidence of a wrong spirit or motive, inconsistent
with the purity of the religion they profess, to
reproach them and injure the cause of Christ.





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


271


Members of the Church who do not maintain a
holy walk before the world thereby lose theit
moral power to do good. No matter what their
position and influence may be in other respects,
they have no power to advance the cause of truth
and holiness among men. On the contrary, they
are stumbling-blocks to others. If they could
be brought to see at one view the moral ruin
their inconsistency works, the number who are
influenced by it to reject the salvation of the
Gospel and perish in their sins, they would start
horror-stricken from  the scene, and spend the
remnant of their lives in contrition and sorrow
for their wickedness and folly. But the fact is
no less real than if it were open to the view of
all. In holiness of heart and life there is moral
power. If all who have named the name of
Christ were careful to depart from all iniquity,
and live before the world as Christ and the apostles lived, in all things and at all times, infidelity
and sin would wither in their presence, and the
glory of the Lord would speedily fill the whole
earth. Who doubts it? Who can doubt it?
Christian brethren! you who mingle your prayers and vows together at the altar of your com




)72


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


mon Lord, and hope and wait for the coming of
the kingdom of Christ-whose hearts are pained
and stirred within you at every thought of the
prevalence of infidelity and wickedness in the
earth-think of these things. Think how much
depends upon a uniform consistency of life with
the grace you profess in your hearts, in warring
against the wickedness that is in the world and
advancing the Redeemer's kingdom among men.
To this work God has appointed his chosen people, and he requires them to be true and faithful
in it. The mere outward righteousness of the
Pharisee, without the spiritual life within, will not
do. We need the inward life to bind us to the
ordinances of the Lord and give us delight in
them. And then, stimulated by our inward life,
and the love it inspires for Christ and the salvation of sinners, if we let our light shine before
inen in a life of holiness and piety, others will be
led, by seeing our good works, to glorify our
Father who is in heaven.
VI. That the Lord's Supper is a sacrament
renders an observance of it peculiarly interesting
to those who receive it. By the act of partaking
of it they enter into covenant with Christ, to be





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


273


his forever. They declare their faith in him as
their Redeemer and Mediator, and in the efficacy
of his passion and death for the remission of
sins. They profess their sole and entire dependence on him for grace to renovate their hearts, to
renew and strengthen them in their spiritual life,
and to save them from the wrath to come. To
this faith they set their seal, and solemnly covenant to continue in it. This imposes the obligation to cherish a love for it by habitual study,
meditation, and prayer, that it may be in them a
living principle, to preserve them from the delusions of error and the seductions of an evil heart.
All truly converted persons feel that in adopting
this faith they have not followed a cunningly
devised fable. Compared with their experience,
it is a demonstration. Its truth and power correspond with their inward consciousness of what
is good and acceptable in the sight of God, and
they trust in it as the only ground of their hope.
The covenant, hence, implies a scrupulous avoidance of everything that may tend to weaken its
power and deprive us of its benefits. Here is the
ground for effort to "stand fast in the faith."
Paul said, as one of the results of his long anc





274


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


heroic warfare in the cause of Christ, "I have
kept the faith." To keep the faith we profess in
coming to the Lord's table requires a discriminating watchfulness against the intrusions of
error. Our pledge at the sacramental altar is,
that we will steadfastly believe God's holy word,
and reject all teachings, however plausible and
fascinating, which do not prominently present
" Christ, and him crucified," as the only ground
of the sinner's hope. The reading of those books,
and listening to those lectures, which tend to
subvert or corrupt this faith, or weaken its power
in our hearts, is a violation of the pledge we
make when we come to the Lord's table. So,
also, are all our acts, and words, and thoughts,
which in any way tend to obscure the light of
this faith, and alienate our affections from the
cross. We solemnly promise and covenant that
we will habitually and prayerfully avoid all such
acts, and words, and thoughts, and in lowliness
of heart learn of Christ and him only.
But communicants pledge themselves to a
continuance not only in the faith, but also in
love and obedience. No vow can be more sacredly
binding than that which we make at the table





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


275


of the Lord, to serve him in love and obedience
all the days of our lives. It has the nature and
force of an oath, visibly confirmed in the presence
of witnesses by the sacramental act of eating and
drinking with our covenant-keeping Lord. How
solemn is such a covenant vow!     And what
adds to its sanctity is, that it is a federal act, in
which we become bound to our divine Master to
fulfill our covenant obligations; and he, on his
part, covenants that he will bestow upon us all
the grace we need to sustain and strengthen our
spiritual life, and bring us at last to eat bread
with him in his heavenly kingdom, if we continue
faithful in his service.
As such is the nature and binding force of the
sacrament, how does it become us to examine
ourselves, and well to consider the solemnity of
the act we are about to perform when we approach the table of the Lord! and ponder in our
hearts what we have done, and what obligations
rest upon us to be faithful in all we have promised,
when we retire from it! In all our transactions
with men we feel that we must fulfill our promises
and pledges to them, or forfeit their confidence,
and subject ourselves to humiliation and disgrace.





ý276


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


We have no heart to come into the presence
of those we have abused by our insincere professions and promises, much less to presume a
renewal of our communion with them. But no
pledges we ever made to man are so solemn, or
sealed and confirmed in so solemn a manner, as
those we make to our Lord and Saviour every
time we partake of the holy sacrament. We
covenant with him that we will continue steadfast in the faith we profess, and in love and obedience to him. After having thus publicly taken
the vows of our God upon us in so solemn a
manner, how circumspectly ought we to walk in
all things! The Christian shbuld never forget
that he is a marked man. The eyes of all are
upon him. Whether he thinks of his profession,
his vows, and his obligations to lead a holy life,
or not, others do. All the circles in which he
moves expect of him conduct corresponding to
his professions. This they have a right to do,
and professors have no reason to complain of
the strict account to which the world, with whom
they associate in business and social life, hold
them to fulfill all their covenant obligations to
God as scrupulously as they hold themselves





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


27


bound to fulfill their promises to men. More
than this, their own consciences are concerned
in keeping their covenant vows. They are made
to God and not to man. In the seclusion of tlh
closet as well as in the public walks of life, they
should dwell in the heart as a law of life, governing every thought, and word, and act, and leave
their impress upon the whole man, in both the
inward and outward life. Let all who have thus
entered into covenant with God, by a sacramental
vow, to be his forever, think of these things.
But some may say, if these things be so, it is
better to refrain from communing at the Lord's
table altogether, lest after we have vowed we
enhance our guilt by failing to perform our vows.
Indeed, the remark is often made by serious persons who are thoughtful on the subject of religion:
"It is better not to profess, than to profess and
not live up to our profession." And we have
heard individuals say with apparent sincerity: " I
feel the need of religion; but I fear, if I should
seek and obtain it, I would not be able to live
it;" and thus reasoning they neglect to seek it.
This kind of reasoning, there is cause to believe,
'influences many professors of religion, who have a





'78


TIE LORD'S SUPPER.


just sense of the binding force of their sacramental vows upon them, to refrain from renewing those vows by communing at the Lord's
table. This is a snare of the enemy. It is a
dreadful snare, and will surely prove the ruin of
all who are taken in it. Think of it, you who
endeavor to justify your neglect of the sacrament
by the plausible pretense that it is better to do
so than not to fulfill the obligations it imposes.
Is not this making provision for the flesh? What
necessity is there that you should not perform
your sacramental vows after you have made
them? Why should you desire to be released
from them? Is the Lord a hard master, exacting
of his covenanting people what is not for their
happiness and benefit?  Is not his grace sufficient to enable them to stand fast in the faith,
and do all he requires of them, and all they promise in their covenant vows to perform? Why
then neglect to take those vows upon you, and
renew them at every opportunity, and endeavor
to live worthy of the profession you make in so
doing, rather than seek to evade the obligations
they impose by neglecting the sacrament? What
can you gain by refusing to enter into covenant





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


279


with your Lord? He is your Redeemer and only
Saviour. The covenant he proposes to enter into
with you is wholly for your good. It is to bless
and save you.. He pledges himself, his blood
and righteousness, his grace and spirit, all, all
that you need for spiritual support and comfort
in this life, and the joys of heaven in the world
to come! Will you refuse partnership in a covenant which proposes everything for your good,
and nothing that will harm you? Will you
barter away your proffered "inheritance with the
saints in light" for the fancied privilege of enjoying "the pleasures of sin," with a respectable
show of consistency between your life and your
profession? What will you gain? To whom
will you go for the grace and comfort you need
to prepare you for happiness in this and the
world to come? Who but Christ, whose covenant mercies you spurn and reject, can give you
eternal life?  0 think of these things! Shun
the snare which is already entangling your wayward feet. Hasten to the mercy-seat of your
covenant-keeping God and Saviour. Banish from
your mind every thought which tends to weaken
your faith in the sufficiency of his grace to enable





280


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


you to keep all your covenant vows, and show
forth his praise by a godly life and well-ordered
conversation. Thus shall you experience the
rich benefits he designs to convey to his faithful
followers, through the ordinance of the sacrament
which he has instituted for their edification and
comfort.
VII. It will occur to all that the benefit derived from our communion at the Lord's table
depends much upon the state of our minds when
we approach it.  A mere formal observance of
it, as a part of the routine of religious duties required of us by our profession as members of the
Church, without an inward preparation of heart
to receive it as a means of grace and spiritual
edification, will avail us nothing.
How, then, shall we prepare to receive the
communion of the Lord's Supper so as to be profited by it? This is a grave and serious inquiry.
Let all who profess the name of Christ take it
home to their hearts, and reflect upon it with
that religious candor that its importance demands.
Christian friends and fellow-members in the body
of Christ! in taking my leave of you here, I beseech you to suffer the word of exhortation, as a





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


281


parting word from one who loves and wishes well
to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ.
First, then, if you would experience all the
benefits designed, to be conveyed by our blessed
Lord to his beloved followers, through the sacrament, as a means of grace instituted to be observed by them to the end of time, you must
"keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal
life." Jude 21. By this is meant, not that you have
control of the Spirit, by which " the love of God
is shed abroad in the heart," (Rom. v. 5;) but
"keep yourselves in the love of God, by building
yourselves on your most holy faith, praying
in the Holy Ghost." Jude 20, 21. Continually cleave to God, and keep alive in your hearts
the fires of devotion which were kindled there
when you were brought, through faith, to "discern
the Lord's body" in the sacrificial offering he
made of himself upon the cross for you,-and receive him as your Redeemer and Saviour. This
is the "first love" of the Christian. Rev. ii, 4.
This was your first love. It is lost by losing
sight of the faith-" your most holy faith "-that
which brings " Christ crucified " in the mind and





282


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


heart, and keeps him there-the "faith which
worketh by love." Gal. v, 6. By keeping this
faith and this love alive in the soul at all times,
you will be prepared to commune with your
Lord, and receive all the benefits of so doing
every time you have an opportunity.
But again, to continue in such a state of preparation for communion at the Lord's table, constant diligence in all the duties of aChristian life
will be necessary. Read the Scriptures; take
them as a rule of faith and practice; search them
daily, that your faith in the atonement may be
daily strengthened and invigorated; commune
with God in your closets; let all your thoughts
and meditations be employed about God-God
your Redeemer and Saviour--and his condescending goodness in saving you. Everywhere, in
your fields, and shops, and stores; in the kitchen,
the nursery, and the drawing-room; in solitude
and in the social circle, keep your minds steadily
fixed upon the " cross," and your inheritance in
"Christ crucified."  If thoughts of the world, its
troubles, cares, business, pleasures, come in to
obscure your view of the " cross," and your interest in it, repel the first intrusion. Keep your





PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.


283


minds clear and your hearts warm on this theme,
and you will have both a desire for the feast of
the Lord, and delight in it.
When the sacramental season approaches do
not, as it is to be feared many do, burden your
minds and bodies with thoughts and labors of a
worldly nature up to the very day and hour of
your solemn meeting with Christ and his people,
to renew your sacramental vows, and then return
to the world again with scarcely an impression
left upon your souls of the solemn act you have
performed; but let the coming occasion occupy
your thoughts and interest-your feelings. Look
forward to it with desire and hope, that it may
be to you a "time of refreshing from the presence
of the Lord." Acts iii, 19. Think of good John,
whose heart glowed every day with the fire of
the love of God, which was kept continually
burning upon the altar of his heart. He remembered the SABBATH as a season appointed by
God in which he would meet with his people.
He was prepared for it. He was in the Spiritthe spirit of devotion suited to the solemnity of
the occasion-and the Lord revealed himself to
nim in a manner which overwhelmed him with





284:


THE LORD'S SUPPER.


holy rapture and spiritual delight. So you,
dearly beloved in the Lord, keeping the seasons
of communion with your Lord in your minds,
looking forward to them with increasing desire
as they approach, and then coming with heart
and mind prepared to throw yourselves beneath
the cross, and behold "Christ crucified" for you
through the sign he has instituted to help your
faith and inflame your love, shall realize those
glorious manifestations of his grace which he has
promised to those who, with sincere hearts, and
in obedience to his command, remember him in
his ordinance. Were all who profess to be the
disciples of Christ imbued with the Spirit which
characterized his primitive followers, to attend to
his ordinances with the same faith and love with
which they observed them, what moral power they
would exert in banishing error and vice from the
world! Then would the Church "look forth as
the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun,
and terrible as an army with banners." Cant. vi,
10. The Lord hasten the day for his mercy's
sake I AMEN.


THE END.