Nor is it merely a question of subjection to the authority of Scripture. It is that, most assuredly, as we have abundantly proved by quotation after quotation from the divine Word; and that alone is amply sufficient for every pious mind. But there is more than this. There is such a thing as the response of love in the heart of the Christian, answering to the love of the heart of Christ. Is not this something? Ought we not to seek, in some small degree, to meet the love of such a heart? If our blessed and adorable Lord has, in very deed, appointed the bread and the wine, in the supper, as memorials of His broken body and shed blood; if He has ordained that we should eat of that bread and drink of that cup, in remembrance of Him, ought we not, in the power of responsive affection, to meet the desire of His loving heart? Surely no earnest Christian will question this. It ought ever to be the very joy of our hearts to gather around the table of our loving Lord, and remember Him in the way of His appointment—to show forth His death till He come. It is only marvelous to think that He should seek a place in the remembrance of such hearts as ours; but so it is; and it would be sad indeed if we, on any ground, and for any reason whatsoever, should neglect that very feast with which He has linked His precious name.
This, of course, would not be the place to enter upon any thing like an elaborate exposition of the ordinance of the Lord’s supper. We have sought to do this elsewhere.[11] What we specially desire here is, to urge upon the Christian reader the immense importance and deep interest of the ordinance as viewed on the double ground of subjection to the authority of Scripture, and responsive love to Christ Himself. And furthermore, we are anxious to impress all who may read these lines with a sense of the seriousness of neglecting to eat the Lord’s supper, according to the Scriptures. We may depend upon it it is dangerous ground for any to attempt to set aside this positive institution of our Lord and Master. It argues a wrong condition of soul altogether. It proves that the conscience is not subject to the authority of the Word, and that the heart is not in true sympathy with the affections of Christ. Let us therefore see to it that we are honestly endeavoring to discharge our holy responsibilities to the table of the Lord—that we forbear not to keep the feast—that we celebrate it according to the order laid down by God the Holy Ghost.
Thus much as to the passover in the wilderness, and the impressive lessons which it conveys to our souls.
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We shall now dwell for a few moments on the closing paragraph of our chapter, which is as truly characteristic as any portion of the book. In it we are called to contemplate a numerous host of men, women, and children, traveling through a trackless wilderness, “where there was no way”—passing over a dreary waste, a vast sandy desert, without compass or human guide.
What a thought! what a spectacle! There were those millions of people moving along without any knowledge of the route by which they were to travel, as wholly dependent upon God for guidance as for food and all beside; a thoroughly helpless pilgrim host. They could form no plans for the morrow. When encamped, they knew not when they were to march, and when on the march, they knew not when or where they were to halt. Theirs was a life of daily and hourly dependence. They had to look up for guidance. Their movements were controlled by the wheels of Jehovah’s chariot.
This, truly, was a wondrous spectacle. Let us read the record of it, and drink into our souls its heavenly teaching.