My Dear _______
It must never be forgotten that it is possible to be at the Lord's
Table, and yet to fail altogether in participating in the Lord's
Supper. Thus the Corinthians were gathered out to the name of Christ;
they were assembled week after week at the Lord's Table, and yet St.
Paul, writing to them, says, "When ye come together therefore into one
place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper" (1 Cor. 11: 20). They had
fallen into such disorder, through selfishness, and forgetfulness of
the import of the supper, that they had made this solemn occasion a
time of feasting. What they were eating therefore was their own, and
not the Lord's Supper; for they had dissociated the bread and wine from
almost all connection with the body and blood of Christ. Hence the
solemn admonition, "What! have ye not houses to eat and drink in? or
despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall
I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not" (v. 22).
Thereon, the apostle proceeds to explain the true character of the
supper, and tells us that he had received a special communication
concerning it from the Lord. It is of importance to mark this, because,
as the apostle received this in connection with his ministry of the body of Christ (Col. 1: 24, 25), and since
this is the final communication on the subject, it is to this scripture
rather than to the gospels (which, however, relate the institution of
the super on the passover night) that we turn for the exposition of its
meaning.
And who can fail to be struck with the wondrous grace displayed in
the opening words of this account, :That the Lord Jesus, the same night
in which He was betrayed , took bread," etc.? (v. 23). What a contrast
between the heart of man, and the heart of Christ! About to be betrayed
by one of His Disciples, "He 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" (vv23, 24).
The bread therefore is a symbol of the body of the Lord Jesus which
was given for His own--given up to death for them , for us, for all
believers--on the cross; and when we eat it, we are to remember Him.
Attention to the word "remember" would save from many mistakes. We
remember a thing that is past; i.e., we recall to mind. So when we eat
the bread at the Lord's Supper, we recall the fact that the Lord was
once dead; we remember Him in that condition--the condition of
death--down into which he went, when He bore our sins on His own body
in the tree-- when He endured all the wrath that was due to us, and so
glorified God even about our sin. It is therefore not Christ as He now
is, but Christ as He then was, whom we remember in the breaking of
bread.
The cup also sets forth the same thing. "After the same manner also
He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the new
testament [covenant] 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" (vv.25, 26). The wine,
then, of which we partake is an emblem of the blood of Christ; and this
in itself speaks also of death, for we cannot think of blood, as apart
from the body, except in connection with death. Indeed, verse 26
emphasizes the truth that, both in eating the bread and drinking the
cup, we show, announce, or proclaim, the death of the Lord. We cannot
too earnestly insist upon this, that in the Lord's Supper we look back
to a dead Christ; that we take it in remembrance of the fact that He
once was lying dead--dead on the cross, and dead in the sepulchre;
because He not only bore our sins, but was made sin--He who
knew no sin--that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
Note well that it is not even a dying, but a dead Christ--not a dying
Christ, a continual repetition of His sacrifice, as so many erroneously
teach, but a dead Christ; "for by one offering He hath perfected for
ever them that are sanctified" (Heb. 10: 14).
This, then, is the one thought which should be before our souls at
the Lord's table. What simplicity; but how calculated to touch and bow
our hearts in adoration before Him, as, seated around His table, we
thus commemorate His death! For "the apostle shows us, if it is a dead
Christ, who it is that died. Impossible to find two words, the bringing
together of which has so important a meaning, the death of the Lord. How
many things are comprised in that He who is called the Lord had died!
What love! what purposes! what efficacy! what results! The Lord gave
Himself up for us. We celebrate His death."
And observe, it is "until He come." While therefore we look back to
the cross, we are reminded of His coming in glory to receive us unto
Himself, the fruit surely of His travail and death; and thus we can
never forget that our complete redemption, being "conformed to the
image of His Son," is the result of the death of Christ. For the two
things, the cross and the glory, are here bound indissolubly together.
Such then is the meaning of the supper; and, as you will perceive,
the apostle gives us very solemn warnings against forgetfulness of its
import. "Whosoever shall eat the bread, and drink the cup of the Lord
unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let
a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of
that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and
drinketh damnation [judgment] to himself, not discerning the Lord's
body" (vv. 27-29). There is no question here of being ourselves worthy
to partake of the Lord's Supper; but what the apostle deprecates is
"partaking in an unworthy manner. Every Christian, unless some sin had
excluded him, was worthy to partake, because he was a Christian. But a
Christian might come to it without judging himself, or appreciating as
he ought, that which the supper brought to his mind, and which Christ
had connected with it. He did not discern the Lord's body; and he did
not discern, did not judge, the evil in himself." And if he thus ate
and drank, he would eat judgment to himself; i.e., he would bring down
discipline upon himself; for the Lord judges His people, chastens them,
that they should not be condemned with the world (v. 32). He had thus
chastened the Corinthians for their careless ways-some with weakness,
some with sickness, and some even with bodily death (v. 30). Hence the
necessity of examining ourselves as to the manner in which we partake
of the Lord's Supper, and of judging every thing which is thus
discovered that is unsuited to the presence of the Lord; "for if we
would judge ourselves, we should not be judged" (v. 31) ; i.e.,
exercising self-judgment, we should not then be chastened of the Lord.
From all that has been said, it is clear that we are not qualified
for the Lord's table until the question of our relationship with God is
settled--until, in a word, we have peace with God. For if I am occupied
with self, with my own state of soul, with doubts, anxieties, or fears,
I cannot be occupied with the death of Christ. Much injury is thus
often done in bringing souls too soon to the table; for, coming before
they have peace with God, they look upon the table as a means of grace;
and inasmuch as the death of Christ is brought before them, they are
made, not knowing the value of that death for themselves, wretched and
miserable. Until there is peace of conscience through the blood, to say
the least, the soul is not free, not at leisure to contemplate the
death of Christ.
Once more. When we are at the table, it is not to be occupied with
the benefits which we have received through the death of Christ. It is
rather to enter, by the power of the Spirit, into God's thoughts
concerning the death of His beloved Son. For we are there as
worshippers, and as such inside the rent veil, and there we are
engrossed with the fact that God Himself was glorified in the death of
Christ; and as in fellowship with Himself, we think of what Christ was
to Him, how that He was never more precious to Him than in that awful
moment when He was made sin, that it was for God's glory He endured
all, was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, then it is
with overflowing hearts we are enabled by the Spirit to poor forth our
adoration and praise. Wondrous thought, that we should thus be admitted
to behold with God His Christ brought down into the dust of death, with
all God's waves and billows passing over Him! And as we behold we
cannnot but cry, "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins
in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His
Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and fever. Amen" (Rev. 1:
5-6).
We are thus at the table as givers, not as receivers; thought surely
we do receive when there according to God. But the object of out
assembling is to worship, to render the homage of our hearts to God,
because we have been redeemed through the death of His Son. And who
could describe the blessedness of the privilege of showing in this way
the Lord's death? Gathered around Himself, with the touching emblems of
His body and blood before our eyes, thus claiming the affections of of
out hearts, His love, which the many waters could not drown, nor the
floods quench, penetrates and possesses our souls, and constrains us to
bow in willing adoration at His feet, and makes us long for the time
when we shall see Him face to face, and beholding His glory, be with
Him, and worship Him throughout the ages of eternity.
Praying that you may be taught more and more of the meaning of His death as set forth in the supper,
Believe me, dear ______,
Yours affectionately in Christ,
E.D