And as they were eating [the passover] 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.”* With this, the account given by Luke,† as well as that given by Mark, substantially agrees. Paul, who did not originally belong to the company of the Apostles, and who was consequently not present when the supper was instituted, was, after his conversion, favoured with a special revelation on the subject, which, accompanied with some remarks dictated by the Spirit of inspiration, we have in his first Epistle to the Corinthians.Q "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. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the *Mat. xxvi. 26-28. † Chap. xiv. 22-25. Chap. xi. 23-29, 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 to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." Here then, we have the appointment of Jesus Christ, the glorious Head of the Church, making it the Christian's duty, in this ordinance, to shew forth the death of his Lord. "Christ (says our Heidelbergh Catechism,) has commanded me, and all believers, to eat of this broken bread, and drink of this cup, in remembrance of him."* The duty is plainly stated; the injunction is positive and peremptory "This do in remembrance of me." Such an injunction, issuing from the lips of Him, who holds our breath, and our destiny in his hand, nothing but the most daring impiety will presume to treat with disrespect. The command of the Supreme Legislator must be law to every created intelligence; and wo to him who disregards the authority of this "one Lawgiver, who is able to save, and to destroy!" Let such, then, as neglect and despise this ordinance bear in mind, that it is the Great God, the Judge of quick and dead, whom all heaven and earth are bound to obey, and before whom the very devils tremble, who has said "This do in remembrance of me." But this Great God, the Creator, Upholder, and Judge of all, is the God of our Salvation" The Great God, our Saviour." And it is not so much in + Isa. iv. 12. *Sect. 28. Quest. 75.. his Divine, as in his Mediatorial character, that Jesus Christ challenges our obedience in the sacrament of the supper. While enduring a painful exile from the heavenly world, and suffering for us, and our salvation, he instituted this feast, and enjoined it upon all his followers, thus to "shew forth his death until he comes." Oh! who can trifle with a Saviour's love? Who can disobey a Saviour's command? And that, too, a command issued under circumstances the most solemn and affecting? It was the same night, in which Jesus was betrayed, that he instituted the supper. When the garden and the cross spread all their horrors before him! In that hour of the power of darkness, when we would suppose every thought and every anxiety must have been, with inconceivable intenseness, fixed upon himself, and the death he was to accomplish at Jerusalem: In that hour his love for his people burned with a pure and vehement flame; and his anxiety was exercised to promote their welfare and their comfort. For their refreshment and encouragement, while on their march to glory, he instituted this supper. It is the dying command of the Saviour of sinners, who will dare to withhold obedience? Who does not cherish with peculiar interest, and execute with greatest fidelity, the dying requests and injunctions of a fellow-mortal? Who does not bear in mind the parting directions of an earthly friend? Who can forget what his father told him, when stretched upon the bed of death? And shall we forget thy dying command, Redeemer of our souls-our Saviour-and our All? Shall we ungratefully turn our backs on the scenes of Gethsemane and Golgotha; and declare before the church, and in the face of heaven, our unwillingness to keep alive the recollection of thy sufferings and death, in the sacranient of the supper? Oh! no: it must not be. Hell cannot furnish an instance of such black ingratitude. "Jesus, thy feast we'll celebrate We'll shew thy death, we'll sing thy name- The marriage supper of the Lamb!" Let the reader, who pretends to be so afraid of an unworthy approach to the table of the Lord, then, bear it in mind, that every time he fails to partake when this ordinance is dispensed, he is guilty of disobedience to the high command of Heaven; a disobedience, aggravated by the circumstance, that it pours contempt upon the dying command of the blessed, and only Saviour. O! be assured, that it will be vastly more difficult to account to your Judge for such neglect and disobedience, than it is to satisfy your conscience at present, under a pretence that the fear of partaking unworthily deters you from approaching the sacramental board. I venture to call this a pretence; because, with very few exceptions indeed, I have never among the multitude, who make such excuse, seen any thing like serious and anxious efforts to become prepared. But, some one may ask, 'Is no preparation neeessary for a seat at the table of the Lord? Are no qualifications to be attended to, before we adventure to participate in that holy ordinance? Most unquestionably, reader; most unquestionably. And we purpose hereafter to show, what preparation and qualifications are necessary. It answers our purpose at present to tell you, that the want of preparation does not justify your disobedience to the dying com mand of the Saviour. It is your duty to be prepared and the neglect of one duty can never be accepted as an excuse for the neglect of another duty. The law among the Jews, regulating attendance on the passover, was this: "But the man that is clean, and not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, 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."* Nothing but ceremonial uncleanness, or unavoidable absence, could excuse the Israelite; and even in such a case, it was required of him to attend on the extra-passover, to be observed on the fourteenth day of the second month by all who had been lawfully prevented from attending at the stated time.† Moral uncleanness, or the want of sanctification, could form no excuse. It was his duty to be holy; and, as I before remarked, the neglect of one duty can never, with propriety, be urged as an excuse for the neglect of another duty. "God now commandeth all men "And this is his com It is so now. every where to repent." * See Numb. ix. 18. + Numb. ix. 10, 11, 12 t Acts xviii. 80. |