May you and I, beloved reader, enter with more freshness and intelligence into the meaning of the Lord"s Supper, and with deeper experience into the blessedness of breaking that bread which is "the communion of the body of Christ," and drinking of that cup which is "the communion of the blood of Christ."
In closing these few prefatory lines, I commend this treatise to the Lord"s gracious care, praying Him to make it useful to the souls of His people.
C. H. M.
FOOTNOTE:
[X.] [The Greek word translated "show" is more exactly rendered "announce" or "proclaim"--same word as in I Cor. ix. 14. ED.]
THOUGHTS
ON
THE LORD"S SUPPER
"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."--I Cor. xi. 23-26.
I desire to offer a few brief remarks on the subject of the Lord"s Supper, for the purpose of stirring up the minds of all who love the name and inst.i.tutions of Christ to a more fervent and affectionate interest in this most important and refreshing ordinance.
We should bless the Lord for His gracious consideration of our need in having established such a memorial of His dying love, and also in having spread a table at which _all_ His members might present themselves without any other condition than the indispensable one of personal connection with and obedience to Him. The blessed Master knew well the tendency of our hearts to slip away from Him, and from each other, and to meet this tendency was _one_, at least, of His objects in the inst.i.tution of the Supper. He would gather His people around His own blessed person; He would spread a table for them where, in view of His broken body and shed blood, they might remember Him, and the intensity of His love for them, and from whence, also, they might look forward into the future, and contemplate the glory of which the Cross is the everlasting foundation. There, if anywhere, they would learn to forget their differences, and to love one another; there they might see around them those whom THE LOVE OF G.o.d had invited to the feast, and whom THE BLOOD OF CHRIST had made fit to be there.
However, in order that I may the more easily and briefly convey to the mind of my reader what I have to say on this subject, I shall confine myself to the four following points, viz.:
1st. The nature of the ordinance of the Lord"s Supper.
2d. The circ.u.mstances under which it was inst.i.tuted.
3d. The persons for whom it was designed.
4th. The time and manner of its observance.
I. And first, as to the nature of the ordinance of the Lord"s Supper.
This is a cardinal point. If we understand not the nature of the ordinance, we shall be astray in all our thoughts about it. The Supper, then, is purely and distinctly a feast of thanksgiving--thanksgiving for grace already received.
The Lord Himself, at the inst.i.tution of it, marks its character by giving thanks. "He took bread: ... when He had given thanks," etc.
Praise, and not prayer, is the suited utterance of those who sit at the table of the Lord.
True, we have much to pray for, much to confess, much to mourn over; but the table is not the place for mourners: its language is, "Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more." Ours is "a cup of blessing," a cup of thanksgiving, the divinely appointed symbol of that precious blood which has procured our ransom. "The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" How, then, could we break it with sad hearts or sorrowful countenances? Could a family circle, after the toils of the day, sit down to supper with sighs and gloomy looks? Surely not. The supper was the great family meal, the only one that was sure to bring _all the family together_. Faces that might not have been seen during the day were sure to be seen at the supper table, and no doubt they would be happy there. Just so it should be at the Lord"s Supper: the family should a.s.semble there; and when a.s.sembled, they should be happy, unfeignedly happy, in the love that brings them together. True, each heart may have its own peculiar history--its secret sorrows, trials, failures, and temptations, unknown to all around; but these are not the objects to be contemplated at the supper: to bring them into view is to dishonor the Lord of the feast, and make the cup of blessing a cup of sorrow. The Lord has invited us to the feast, and commanded us, notwithstanding all our shortcomings, to place the fulness of His love and the cleansing efficacy of His blood between our souls and everything; and when the eye of faith is filled with Christ, there is no room for aught beside. If my sin be the object which fills my eye and engages my thoughts, of course I must be miserable, because I am looking right away from what G.o.d commands me to contemplate; I am remembering my misery and poverty, the very things which G.o.d commands me to forget.
Hence the true character of the ordinance is lost, and, instead of being a feast of joy and gladness, it becomes a season of gloom and spiritual depression; and the preparation for it, and the thoughts which are entertained about it are more what might be expected in reference to mount Sinai than to a happy family feast.
If ever a feeling of sadness could have prevailed at the celebration of this ordinance, surely it would have been on the occasion of its first inst.i.tution, when, as we shall see when we come to consider the second point in our subject, there was everything that could possibly produce deep sadness and desolation of spirit; yet the Lord Jesus could "give thanks;" the tide of joy that flowed through His soul was far too deep to be ruffled by surrounding circ.u.mstances; He had a joy even in the breaking and bruising of His body and in the pouring forth of His blood which lay far beyond the reach of human thought and feeling. And if He could rejoice in spirit, and give thanks in breaking that bread which was to be to all future generations of the faithful the memorial of His broken body, should not we rejoice therein, we who stand in the blessed results of all His toil and pa.s.sion? Yes; it becomes us to rejoice.
But it may be asked, Is there no preparation necessary? are we to sit down at the table of the Lord with as much indifference as if we were sitting down to an ordinary supper table? Surely not--we need to be right in our souls, and the first step toward this is peace with G.o.d--that sweet a.s.surance of our eternal salvation which most certainly is not the result of human sighs or penitential tears, but the simple result of the finished work of the Lamb of G.o.d, attested by the Spirit of G.o.d. Apprehending this by faith, we apprehend that which makes us perfectly fit for G.o.d. Many imagine that they are putting honor upon the Lord"s table when they approach it with their souls bowed down into the very dust, under a sense of the intolerable burden of their sins. This thought can only flow from the legalism of the human heart, that ever-fruitful source of thoughts at once dishonoring to G.o.d, dishonoring to the Cross of Christ, grievous to the Holy Ghost, and completely subversive of our own peace. We may feel quite satisfied that the honor and purity of the Lord"s table are more fully maintained when THE BLOOD OF CHRIST is made the only t.i.tle than if human sorrow and human penitence were superadded.[XI.]
However, the question of preparedness will come more fully before us as we proceed with our subject; I shall therefore state another principle connected with the nature of the Lord"s Supper, viz., that there is involved in it an intelligent recognition of the oneness of the body of Christ. "The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, being many, are one bread, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread." Now there was sad failure and sad confusion in reference to this point at Corinth: indeed, the great principle of the Church"s oneness would seem to have been totally lost sight of there. Hence the apostle observes that "when ye come together into one place, this is not to eat the Lord"s Supper, for every one taketh before other _his own_ supper" (I Cor. xi. 20, 21). Here, it was isolation, and not unity; an individual, and not a corporate question: "_his own supper_" is strikingly contrasted with "_the Lord"s Supper_."
The _Lord"s_ Supper demands that the body be fully recognized: if the one body be not recognized, it is but sectarianism: the Lord Himself has lost His place. If the table be spread upon any narrower principle than that which would embrace the whole body of Christ, it is become a sectarian table, and has lost its claim upon the hearts of the faithful.
On the contrary, where a table is spread upon this divine principle, which embraces _all_ the members of the body _simply as such_, every one who refuses to present himself at it is chargeable with schism, and that, too, upon the plain principles of I Cor. xi. "There must," says the apostle, "be heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you."
When the great Church principle is lost sight of by any portion of the body, there must be heresies, in order that the approved ones may be made manifest! and under such circ.u.mstances it becomes the business of each one to approve himself, and so to eat. The "approved" ones stand in contrast with the heretics, or those who were doing their own will.[XII.]
But it may be asked, Do not the numerous denominations at present existing in the professing Church altogether preclude the idea of ever being able to gather the whole body together? and, under such circ.u.mstances, is it not better for each denomination to have their own table? If there be any force in this question, it merely goes to prove that the people of G.o.d are no longer able to act upon G.o.d"s principles, but that they are left to the miserable alternative of acting on human expediency. Thank G.o.d, such is not the case. The truth of the Lord endureth forever, and what the Holy Ghost teaches in I Cor. xi. is binding upon every member of the Church of G.o.d. There were divisions, and heresies, and unholiness, existing in the a.s.sembly at Corinth, just as there are divisions, and heresies, and unholiness, existing in the professing Church now; but the apostle did not tell them to set up separate tables on the one hand, nor yet to cease from breaking bread on the other. No; he presses upon them the principles and the holiness connected with "the Church of G.o.d," and tells those who could approve themselves accordingly to eat. The expression is, "_So let him eat_." We are to eat, therefore: our care must be to eat "_so_," as the Holy Ghost teaches us; and that is in the true recognition of the holiness and oneness of the Church of G.o.d.[XIII.] When the Church is despised, the Spirit Be-must be grieved and dishonored, and the certain end will be spiritual barrenness and freezing formalism: and although men may subst.i.tute intellectual for spiritual power, and human talents and attainments for the gifts of the Holy Ghost, yet will the end be "like the heath in the desert." The true way to make progress in the divine life is to live for the Church, and not for ourselves. The man who lives for the Church is in full harmony with the mind of the Spirit, and must necessarily grow. On the contrary, the man who is living for himself, having his thoughts revolving round, and his energies concentrated upon, himself, must soon become cramped and formal, and, in all probability, openly worldly. Yes; he will become worldly, in some sense of that extensive term; for the world and the Church stand in direct opposition, the one to the other; nor is there any aspect of the world in which this opposition is more fully seen than in its religious aspect. What is commonly called the _religious world_ will be found, when examined in the light of the presence of G.o.d, to be more thoroughly hostile to the true interests of the Church of G.o.d than almost anything.
But I must hasten on to other branches of our subject, only stating another simple principle connected with the Lord"s Supper, to which I desire to call the special attention of the Christian reader; it is this: the celebration of the ordinance of the Lord"s Supper should be the distinct expression of the unity of ALL believers, and not merely of the unity of a certain number gathered on certain principles, which distinguish them from others. If there be any term of communion proposed, save the all-important one of faith in the atonement of Christ, and a walk consistent with that faith, the table becomes the table of a sect, and possesses no claims upon the hearts of the faithful.
Furthermore, if by sitting at the table I must identify myself with any one thing, whether it be principle or practice, not enjoined in Scripture, as a term of communion, there also the table becomes the table of a sect. It is not a question of whether there may be Christians there or not; it would be hard indeed to find a table amongst the reformed communities of which some Christians are not partakers. The apostle did not say, "there must be heresies among you, that they which are _Christians_ may be made manifest among you." No; but "that they which are _approved_." Nor did he say, "Let a man prove himself a Christian, and so let him eat." No; but "let a man approve himself," i.
e., let him shew himself to be one of those who are not only upright in their consciences as to their individual act in the matter, but who are also confessing the oneness of the body of Christ. When men set up terms of communion of their own, there you find the principle of heresy; there, too, there must be schism. On the contrary, where a table is spread in such a manner and upon such principles as that a Christian, subject to G.o.d, can take his place at it, then it becomes schism not to be there; for, by being there, and by walking consistently with our position and profession there, we, so far as in us lies, confess the oneness of the Church of G.o.d--that grand object for which the Holy Ghost was sent from heaven to earth. The Lord Jesus, having been raised from the dead, and having taken His seat at the right hand of G.o.d, sent down the Holy Ghost to earth for the purpose of forming one body. Mark, to form _one body_--not many bodies. He has no sympathy with the many bodies, as such; though He has blessed sympathy with many members in those bodies, because they, though being members of sects or schisms, are nevertheless, members of the one body; but He does not form the many bodies, but the one body, for "by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit" (I Cor. xii. 13).
I desire that there may be no misunderstanding on this point. I say the Holy Ghost cannot approve the schisms in the professing Church, for He Himself has said of such, "I praise you not." He is grieved by them--He would counteract them; He baptizes all believers into the unity of the one body, so that it cannot be thought, by any intelligent mind, that the Holy Ghost could sustain schisms, which are a grief and a dishonor to Him.
We must however, distinguish between the Spirit"s dwelling in the Church, and His dwelling in individuals. He dwells in the body of Christ, which is the Church (see I Cor. iii. 17; Eph. ii. 22); He dwells also in the body of the believer, as we read, "your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of G.o.d" (I Cor. vi.
19). The only body or community, therefore, in which the Spirit can dwell, is _the whole Church of G.o.d_; and the only person in which He can dwell is the believer. But, as has already been observed, the table of the Lord, in any given locality, should be the exhibition of the unity of the whole Church. This leads us to another principle connected with the nature of the Lord"s Supper, viz., this, It is an act whereby we not only shew the death of the Lord until He come, but whereby we also give expression to a fundamental truth, which cannot be too strongly or too frequently pressed upon the minds of Christians, at the present day, viz., that_ all believers are_ "_one loaf--one body_." It is a very common error to view this ordinance merely as a channel through which grace flows to the soul of the individual, and not as an act bearing upon the whole body, and bearing also upon the glory of the Head of the Church. That it is a channel through which grace flows to the soul of the individual communicant there can be no doubt, for there is blessing in every act of obedience. But that individual blessing is but a very small part of it, can be seen by the attentive reader of I Cor. xi. It is the Lord"s death and the Lord"s coming, that are brought prominently before our souls in the Lord"s Supper; and where any one of these elements is excluded there must be something wrong. If there be anything to hinder the complete showing forth of the Lord"s death, or the exhibition of the unity of the body, or the clear perception of the Lord"s coming, then there must be something radically wrong in the principle on which the table is spread, and we only need a single eye, and a mind entirely subject to the Word and Spirit of Christ, in order to detect the wrong.
Let the Christian reader, now, prayerfully examine the table at which he periodically takes his place and see if it will bear the threefold test of I Cor. xi., and if not, let him, in the name of the Lord, and for the sake of the Church, abandon it. There are heresies, and schisms flowing from heresies, in the professing Church, but "let a man approve himself, and so let him eat" the Lord"s Supper; and if, once for all, it be asked, What means the term "approved?" it may be answered, It is in the first place, to be personally true to the Lord in the act of breaking bread; and in the next place, to shake off all schism, and take our stand, firmly and decidedly, upon the broad principle which will embrace all the members of the flock of Christ. We are not only to be careful that we ourselves are walking in purity of heart and life before the Lord; but also, that the table of which we partake has nothing connected with it that could at all act as a barrier to the unity of the Church. It is not merely a personal question. Nothing more fully proves the low ebb of Christianity at the present day, or the fearful extent to which the Holy Ghost is grieved, than the miserable selfishness which tinges, yea, pollutes, the thoughts of professing Christians. Everything is made to hinge upon the mere question of self. It is _my_ forgiveness--_my_ safety--_my_ peace--_my_ happy frames and feelings, and not the glory of Christ, or the welfare of His beloved Church. Well, therefore, may the words of the prophet be applied to us, "Thus saith the Lord, Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain and bring wood, and BUILD THE HOUSE; and I will take pleasure in _it_ and I WILL BE GLORIFIED. Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts.
Because of _My house_ that is waste, and ye run every man to _his own_ house" (Hag. i. 7-9). Here is the root of the matter. Self stands in contrast with the house of G.o.d; and, if self be made the object, no marvel that there should be a sad lack of spiritual joy, energy, and power. To have these, we must be in fellowship with the Spirit"s thoughts. He thinks of the body of Christ; and, if we are thinking of self, we must be at issue with Him; and the consequences are but too apparent.
II. Having now treated of what I conceive to be by far the most important point in our subject, I shall proceed to consider, in the second place, the circ.u.mstances under which the Lord"s Supper was inst.i.tuted. These were particularly solemn and touching. The Lord was about to enter into dreadful conflict with all the powers of darkness--to meet all the deadly enmity of man; and to drain to the dregs the cup of Jehovah"s righteous wrath against sin. He had a terrible morrow before Him--the most terrible that had ever been encountered by man or angel; yet, notwithstanding all this, we read that "on _the same night_ in which He was betrayed, He took bread." What unselfish love is here! "The same night"--the night of profound sorrow--the night of His agony and b.l.o.o.d.y sweat---the night of His betrayal by one, and His denial by another, and His desertion by all of His disciples--on that very night, the loving heart of Jesus was full of thoughts about His Church--on that very night He inst.i.tuted the ordinance of the Lord"s Supper. He appointed the bread to be the emblem of His body broken, and the wine to be the emblem of His blood shed; and such they are to us now, as often as we partake of them, for the Word a.s.sures us that "as often as ye eat _this bread_ and drink _this cup_, ye do show _the Lord"s death_, till He come."
Now, all this, we may say, attaches peculiar importance and sacred solemnity to the Supper of the Lord; and, moreover, gives us some idea of the consequences of eating and drinking unworthily.[XIV.]
The voice which the ordinance utters in the circ.u.mcised ear is ever the same. The bread and the wine are deeply significant symbols; the bruised corn and the pressed grape being both combined to minister strength and gladness to the heart: and not only are they significant in themselves, but they are also to be used in the Lord"s Supper, as being the very emblems which the blessed Master Himself ordained on the night previous to His crucifixion; so that faith can behold the Lord Jesus presiding at _His own table_--can see Him take the bread and the wine, and hear Him say, "Take, eat; this is My body;" and again, of the cup, "Drink ye _all_ of it. For this is My blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins." In a word, the ordinance leads the soul back to the eventful night already referred to--brings before us all the reality of the cross and pa.s.sion of the Lamb of G.o.d, in which our whole souls can rest and rejoice; it reminds us, in the most impressive manner, of the unselfish love and pure devotedness of Him, who, when Calvary was casting its dark shadow across His path, and the cup of Jehovah"s righteous wrath against sin, of which He was about to be the bearer, was being filled for Him, could, nevertheless, busy Himself about us, and inst.i.tute a feast which was to be both the expression of our connection with Him, and with all the members of His body.
And may we not infer, that the Holy Ghost made use of the expression "_the same night_," for the purpose of remedying the disorders that had arisen in the church at Corinth? Was there not a severe rebuke administered to the selfishness of those who were taking "_their own supper_," in the Spirit"s reference to the same night in which the Lord of the feast was betrayed? Doubtless there was. Can selfishness live in the view of the cross? Can thoughts about our own interests, or our own gratification, be indulged in the presence of Him who sacrificed Himself for us? Surely not. Could we heartlessly and wilfully despise the Church of G.o.d--could we offend or exclude beloved members of the flock of Christ, while gazing on that cross on which the Shepherd of the flock, and the Head of the body, was crucified?[XV.] Ah, no; let believers only keep near the cross--let them remember "the same night"--let them keep in mind the broken body and shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and there will soon be an end to heresy, schism, and selfishness. If we could only bear in mind that the Lord Himself presides at the table, to dispense the bread and wine; if we could hear Him say, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves," we should be better able to meet _all_ our brethren on the _only_ Christian ground of fellowship which G.o.d can own.
In a word, the person of Christ is G.o.d"s centre of union. "I," said Christ, "if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto _Me_."
Each believer can hear his blessed Master speaking from the cross, and saying of his fellow believers, "_Behold thy brethren_;" and, truly, if we could distinctly hear this, we should act, in a measure, as the beloved disciple acted towards the mother of Jesus; our hearts and our homes would be open to all who have been thus commended to our care. The word is, "_Receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of G.o.d_."
There is another point worthy of notice, in connection with the circ.u.mstances under which the Lord"s Supper was inst.i.tuted, namely, its connection with the Jewish Pa.s.sover. "Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the Pa.s.sover must be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the Pa.s.sover, that we may eat.... And _when the hour was come_, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. And He said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Pa.s.sover with you before I suffer; for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of G.o.d. And He took the cup [i. e., the cup of the Pa.s.sover], and gave thanks, and said, Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of G.o.d shall come"
(Luke xxii. 7-18). The Pa.s.sover was, as we know, the great feast of Israel, first observed on the memorable night of their happy deliverance from the thralldom of Egypt. As to its connection with the Lord"s Supper, it consists in its being the marked _type_ of that of which the Supper is the _memorial_. The Pa.s.sover pointed _forward_ to the cross; the Supper points _back_ to it. But Israel was no longer in a fit moral condition to keep the Pa.s.sover, according to the divine thoughts about it; and the Lord Jesus, on the occasion above referred to, was leading His apostles away altogether from the Jewish element to a new order of things. It was no longer to be a lamb sacrificed, but bread broken and wine drunk in commemoration of a sacrifice ONCE offered, the efficacy of which was to be eternal. Those whose minds are bowed down to Jewish ordinances, may still look, in some way or another, for the periodical repet.i.tion, either of a sacrifice, or of something which is to bring them into a place of greater nearness to G.o.d.[XVI.]
Some there are who think that in the Lord"s Supper the soul makes, or renews, a covenant with G.o.d, not knowing that if we were to enter into covenant with G.o.d, we should inevitably be ruined; as the only possible issue of a covenant between G.o.d and man is the failure of one of the parties (i. e., man), and consequent judgment. Thank G.o.d, there is no such thing as a covenant with us. The bread and wine, in the Supper, speak a deep and wondrous truth; they tell of the broken body and shed blood of the Lamb of G.o.d--the Lamb of G.o.d"s own providing. Here the soul can rest with perfect complacency; it is THE NEW TESTAMENT IN THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, and not a covenant between G.o.d and man. Man"s covenant had signally failed, and the Lord Jesus had to allow the cup of the fruit of the vine (the emblem of joy in the earth) to pa.s.s Him by. Earth had no joy for Him--Israel had become "the degenerate plant of a strange vine;" wherefore, He had only to say, "I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of G.o.d shall come." A long and dreary season was to pa.s.s over Israel, ere her King could take any joy in her moral condition: but, during that time, "the Church of G.o.d" was to "keep the feast" of unleavened bread, in all its moral power and significance, by putting away the "old leaven of malice and wickedness," as the fruit of fellowship with Him whose blood cleanseth from all sin.
However, the fact of the Lord"s Supper having been inst.i.tuted immediately after the Pa.s.sover, teaches us a very valuable principle of truth, viz., this: the destinies of the Church and of Israel are inseparably linked with the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. True, the Church has a higher place, even identification with her risen and glorified Head; yet all rests upon the Cross. Yes; it was on the cross that the pure sheaf of corn was bruised and the juices of the living vine pressed forth by the hand of Jehovah Himself, to yield strength and gladness to the hearts of His heavenly and earthly people forever. The Prince of Life took from Jehovah"s righteous hand the cup of wrath, the cup of trembling, and drained it to the dregs in order that He might put into the hands of His people the cup of salvation, the cup of G.o.d"s ineffable love, that they might drink and forget their poverty, and remember their misery no more. The Lord"s Supper expresses all this.
There the Lord presides; there the redeemed should meet in holy fellowship and brotherly love, to eat and drink before the Lord; and while they do so, they can look back at their Master"s _night_ of deep sorrow, and forward to His day of glory--that "morning without clouds,"
when "He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe."
III. We shall now consider, in the third place, the persons for whom, and for whom _alone_, the Lord"s Supper was inst.i.tuted.
The Lord"s Supper, then, was inst.i.tuted for the Church of G.o.d--the family of the redeemed. All the members of that family should be there; for none can be absent without incurring the guilt of disobedience to the plain command of Christ and His inspired apostle; and the consequence of this disobedience will be positive spiritual decline and a complete failure in testimony for Christ. Such consequences, however, are the result only of wilful absence from the Lord"s table. There are circ.u.mstances which, in certain cases, may present an insurmountable barrier, though there might be the most earnest desire to be present at the celebration of the ordinance, as there ever will be where the mind is spiritual; but we may lay it down as a fixed principle of truth that no one can make progress in the divine life who wilfully absents himself from the Lord"s table. "ALL the congregation of Israel" were commanded to keep the pa.s.sover (Ex. xii.).
No member of the congregation could with impunity be absent. "The man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the pa.s.sover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin" (Num. ix. 13).
I feel that it would be rendering really valuable service to the cause of truth, and a furtherance of the interests of the Church of G.o.d, if an interest could be awakened on this important subject. There is too much lightness and indifference in the minds of Christians as to the matter of their attendance at the table of the Lord; and where there is not this indifference, there is an unwillingness arising from imperfect views of justification. Now both these hindrances, though so different in their character, spring from one and the same source, viz., selfishness. He who is indifferent about the matter will selfishly allow trifling circ.u.mstances to interfere with his attendance: he will be hindered by family arrangements, love of personal ease, unfavorable weather, trifling or, as it frequently happens, imaginary bodily ailments--things which are lost sight of or counted as nothing when some worldly object is to be gained. How often does it happen that men who have not spiritual energy to leave their houses on the Lord"s day have abundant natural energy to carry them some miles to gain some worldly object on Monday. Alas that it should be so! How sad to think that worldly gain could exert a more powerful influence on the heart of the Christian than the glory of Christ and the furtherance of the Church"s benefit! for this is the way in which we must view the question of the Lord"s Supper. What would be our feelings, amid the glory of the coming kingdom, if we could remember that, while on earth, a fair or a market, or some such worldly object, had commanded our time and energies, while the a.s.sembly of the Lord"s people around His table was neglected?
Beloved Christian reader, if you are in the habit of absenting yourself from the a.s.sembly of Christians, I pray you to ponder the matter before the Lord ere you absent yourself again. Reflect upon the pernicious effect of your absence in every way. You are failing in your testimony for Christ; you are injuring the souls of your brethren, and you are hindering the progress of your own soul in grace and knowledge. Do not suppose that your actings are without their influence on the whole Church of G.o.d: you are at this moment either helping or hindering every member of that body on earth. "If _one_ member suffer, all the members suffer with it." This principle has not ceased to be true, though professing Christians have split into so many different divisions. Nay, it is so divinely true, that there is not a single believer on earth who is not acting either as a helper to, or a drain upon, the whole body of Christ; and if there be any truth in the principle already laid down (viz., that the a.s.sembly of Christians and the breaking of bread in any given locality is, or ought to be, the expression of the unity of the whole body), you cannot fail to see that if you absent yourself from that a.s.sembly, or refuse to join in giving expression to that unity, you are doing serious damage to all your brethren as well as to your own soul. I would lay these considerations on your heart and conscience, in the name of the Lord, looking to Him to make them influential.[XVII.]