233 SERMON XXIII. THE LORD'S SUPPER. 1 COR. XI. 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." I HAVE selected these words to lead your attention, my fellowChristians, to the origin of that sacred rite which we are solemnly invited to partake of on the approaching commemoration of our Saviour's sufferings; to the obligation to obey this solemn call; and to the disposition with which we should approach the table of the Lord. I can discover no topic more worthy of your attention. May the assisting grace of God enable us seriously to consider, and effectually to improve it! Reflect then, how solemn, how interesting was the occasion, on which this sacred rite was instituted by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Redeemer of man! On the night immediately before His sufferings and death, those sufferings and that death which He encountered for our salvation, when He had collected his apostles around Him to celebrate for the last time the Passover designed to commemorate the deliverance of the chosen people of God from Egyptian bondage, an event typical of the infinitely greater deliverance of the whole human race from the bondage of sin and death, which He, the great Captain of our salvation, was now about to achieve-at this interesting moment did the Friend and Saviour of man institute a memorial of His own all-merciful interposition for the human race, in a rite at once simple and significant; worthy of divine Wisdom and benignity. For, "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." It requires little argument to prove, that it was instituted by our Lord, not for the observation of the apostles alone, but for a standing rite of religion, to be perpetually celebrated by all who should profess His holy religion, by all who should ever believe on Him, even to the end of the world. He expressly directed all to do what He there prescribed; and not at that time only, but to repeat it after His death, as a rite by Him appointed, and without adding any intimation that they were ever to discontinue it. And the reason He assigned for the institution-that He suffered death "for many for the remission of sins"*-equally applies to every true Christian, in every period, and in every clime. Nor is it unworthy of our observation, that the injunction, "Drink ye all of it," was added, not merely to produce a local and temporary effect. No; the annexing this emphatic clause with reference to the participation of the cup rather than of the bread, was undoubtedly the effect of that divine and prophetic Spirit, which foresaw that in future ages the great corrupters of Christianity would mutilate this sacred rite, by denying the cup to the laity. And thus this circumstance, slight as it at first appears, forms one of those numerous instances, in which the very errors which have been introduced into our holy religion, become ultimately proofs of its divine original; when it is discerned, that their introduction was foreseen, and their final confutation provided for in the original scheme of the revelation itself, by circumstances too singular to be attributed to any precaution not connected with a wisdom supernatural and prophetic. I might pursue this suggestion further, by proving how plainly the monstrous absurdities which have been engrafted in this plain and rational rite are inconsistent with the avowed purpose of the institution as a memorial, and with the very terms employed in it, which are fixed to a figurative signifi Matt. xxvi. 28. cation, by their exact analogy to those in which the Passover was instituted. But I confine myself to the remark, that, as the Paschal Supper was instituted by the Mosaic law as a perpetual commemoration of the deliverance from Egypt, to be celebrated by every Jew; so it is indisputable, that our Lord designed the rite which He substituted in its place as a similar remembrance of His death for the remission of sins, to be as universally celebrated by every Christian. And exactly conformable to this conclusion are the declarations of all the apostles, and the uniform practice of the Church in the apostolic age. To St. Paul, who was not present at the original institution, it was communicated by immediate personal revelation; that he also might, from the most direct and unquestioned authority, inculcate its observance on all the multitudes by him converted to the faith in Christ. And as to its universal adoption by all Christians, how decisive is the declaration of this apostle in his first epistle addressed to the Corinthian converts; and not only to them, but to all who in every place called upon the name of the Lord Jesus!* He speaks of the participation of this sacrament as the practice of all Christians, the mark of their common profession, union, and faith; as the Jewish sacri, fices were of the profession of Judaism. And finally it is incontestably proved by the Acts of the Apostles, and by every subsequent ecclesiastical record, that this rite made a constant part of public worship in the primitive and apostolic church; that all converts imitated the conduct of those, who at the first effusion of the Holy Spirit and the miraculous gift of tongues, having "gladly received the word, were baptized:" and "continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in breaking of bread and in prayers."t Having thus stated to you the occasion of this sacred rite, the divine authority by which it was enforced, and the perpetual obligation by which all Christians are bound to observe it; let me entreat you to consider, with serious attention, the object it was ordained to commemorate. "This do in remembrance of me," says our Redeemer. How full of meaning are these few and simple words! Were we to * 1 Cor. i. 2. + Acts ii. 41, 42. consider this Jesus merely as a divine Teacher, commissioned to instruct us by His precepts, and to guide us by His example, shall we not remember Him who in the midst of a nation in morals corrupt and in religion intolerant, inculcated every duty it was possible for man to practise, without one error in His theory, or one omission or excess in His precepts? Surely He would be worthy of our highest admiration, and our most grateful remembrance, if we considered merely the wisdom of His doctrines, and the importance of His instructions. But how much more, when we contemplate the pre-eminent excellence of his life, and the engaging, the inimitable qualities of His allperfect character! When we view this great and exalted Being clothing himself with our nature, encountering all the trials, all the wants, all the sufferings, to which humanity stands exposed; to show the practicability of His instructions by His own example; and to rouse us to imitate and obey Him, by exhibiting the most attractive mildness and condescension, the most overflowing benignity, the most generous and exalted affection towards all the sons of men, can we forbear remembering Him with veneration, when we view Him for thirty years exhibiting a pattern of filial humility, and filial obedience, in His submission to those who ranked as His earthly parents; when we see Him entering on His divine mission to dispense instruction and procure salvation for the human race, and though not having where to lay his head, though "despised and rejected of men," when we behold Him going about doing good, while from His all-powerful mediation "the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up?" Nor is this the full extent of His mercy; besides all this, He heals every mental malady, and removes every moral evil: "the poor have the Gospel preached to them." His immediate disciples are dull, prejudiced, bigoted, full of worldly and erroneous views of His character and His Gospel. He bears with their dulness, He gradually softens their prejudices, He removes their errors, and prepares them for the task of diffusing through the world His pure and spiritual, His merciful and peace-inspiring religion. His countrymen are incorrigibly prejudiced and blind, obstinate and perverse-He labours incessantly to conquer their prejudices, and subdue their perverseness; He pities their obstinacy, and weeps at the prospect of their fall. His enemies are beyond all human example malignant, insidious, sanguinary; they employ the foulest calumnies, the basest treachery, the most blood-thirsty arts to destroy Him-He bears them all with patience, with mildness— "He suffered for us," says the apostle, "leaving us an example that we should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously." Such is the character, and such the conduct, of that Jesus whom we are called on to remember in this holy rite. Considered in its lowest view, as He appeared to the most ordinary observation, the Instructor and Example of the human race-even thus, how strongly do such a character and such conduct command the highest admiration, and the profoundest reverence! But when we consider Who it was, that thus appeared "full of grace and truth," how are our sensations exalted, our emotions raised to fervent adoration and ceaseless gratitude! When we reflect, that we are enjoined thus to remember "that Jesus, who in the beginning was with God, and was God;"† who is "the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature; for by Him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions; or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him, and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist." When we consider that this is the unspeakably great and exalted Being, whose interposition for the salvation of man we are called on to commemorate, can we, my fellow-Christians, refuse thus to commemorate Him? Can we forget the greatness of the humiliation submitted to by that Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross;" § 1 Pet. ii. 21, 22, 23. † John i. 1. Col. i. 15, 16. 17. § Phil. ii. 6,7,8. |