CHAPTER IV.

Chapter 632,168 wordsPublic domain

THE LORD'S SUPPER.

An ordinance instituted by our Savior in the place of the Passover, and immediately after celebrating that rite with his disciples for the last time. The Passover was an eminent type of our Lord's sacrifice and of its benefits, and since he was about to fulfill that symbolical rite, which from age to age had continued to exhibit it to the faith and hope of ancient saints, it could have no place under the new dispensation. Christ, in person, became the true Passover, and a new rite was necessary to commemorate the spiritual deliverance of men, and to convey and confirm its benefits. The circumstances of its institution are explanatory of its nature and design.

On the night when the first-born of Egypt were slain the children of Israel were commanded to take a lamb for every house, to kill it, and to sprinkle the blood upon the posts of the doors, so that the destroying angel might _pass over_ the houses of all who had attended to this injunction. Not only were the first-born children thus preserved alive, but the effect was the deliverance of the whole nation from bondage in Egypt, and their becoming the visible Church and people of God by virtue of a special covenant.

In commemoration of these events the feast of the Passover was made annual, and at that time all the males of Judea assembled before the Lord in Jerusalem; a lamb was provided for every house, the blood was poured under the altar by the priests, and the lamb was eaten by the people in their tents or houses. At this domestic and religious feast every master of a family took the cup of thanksgiving, and gave thanks with his family to the God of Israel.

As soon, therefore, as our Lord, acting as the master of the family--the disciples--had finished this, the usual Paschal ceremony, he proceeded to a new and distinct action. "He took bread, [the bread then on the table,] 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, [the cup with the wine which had been used in the Paschal Supper,] saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." Or, as St. Matthew expresses it, "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." "This is my body"--that is, bread represents my body, according to the style of the sacred writers--thus, Genesis xi, 12, "The three branches are three days;" Galatians iv, 24, St. Paul, speaking of Sarah and Hagar, says, "These are the two covenants;" thus, in the grand type of our Lord, Exodus xii, 11, God says of the Paschal lamb, "It is the Lord's passover." Thus our Lord, in substituting the holy communion for the Passover, uses the same expressions the Jews were accustomed to use in celebrating the Passover.

Mr. Watson--Institutes, Part IV, volume ii, page 661--says:

"That this was the institution of a standing rite, and not a temporary action to be confined to the disciples then present with him, is made certain from 1 Corinthians xi, 23-26: '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 shew the Lord's death till he come.' From these words we learn, 1. That St. Paul had a special revelation as to this ordinance, which must have had a higher object than the mere commemoration of an historical fact, and must be supposed to have been made for the purpose of enjoining it upon him to establish this rite in the Churches raised up by him, and of enabling him rightly to understand its authority and purport, where he found it already appointed by the first founders of the Churches. 2. That the command of Christ, 'This do in remembrance of me,' which was originally given to the disciples present with Christ at the last Passover, is laid by St. Paul upon the Corinthians. 3. That he regarded the Lord's Supper as a rite to be '_often_' celebrated, and that in all future time, until the Lord himself should 'come' to judge the world. The perpetual obligation of this ordinance can not, therefore, be reasonably disputed."

The bread and wine used in the sacrament are signs of the body and blood of Christ, which are not locally present, and these signs, being a memorial of the sacrifice once offered on the cross, are intended to produce a moral effect; and, to all who by faith remember Christ in the use of these symbols, is he spiritually present. "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?"

The blessing pronounced does not change the elements used, but to all who join with becoming affection in the thanksgiving then uttered in the name of the congregation Christ is spiritually present, and to those who worthily partake, his body and blood, being spiritually present, convey the same nourishment to their souls, the same quickening to their spiritual life, as bread and wine do to the natural life. It is very clear that 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."

1. ITS INSTITUTION.

MATT. XXVI, 26. 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.

27. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

28. For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

29. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

30. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

MARK XIV, 22. 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.

23. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.

24. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.

25. 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.

LUKE XXII, 14. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.

15. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:

16. For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

17. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:

18. For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

19. 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.

20. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

1 COR. XI, 23. 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:

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

2. THE OBLIGATION UPON CHRISTIANS TO OBSERVE IT.

1 COR. XI, 24. 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.

25. 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.

26. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

MATT. XXVI, 27. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it.

MARK VIII, 38. Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

LUKE XXII, 19. 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.

MARK XIV, 23. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.

MATT. X, 32. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

33. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

MATT. V, 14. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill can not be hid.

15. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

ISAIAH XLIV, 5. One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.

DEUT. XXVI, 17. Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice:

18. And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments.

3. THE ELEMENTS TO BE USED.