THE DESIGN AND IMPORTANCE OF THE LORD's SUPPER.
1 Cor. xi. 24, 26, This do 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.
THE Corinthians had shamefully profaned the Lord's supper. St. Paul reproves them, and rectifies their views of that ordinance. I. The design of the Lord's supper —
Our ungrateful hearts are prone to forget the richest mercies. To keep up " the remembrance" of his death, Christ instituted his last supper. When we celebrate that ordinance, we " shew forth " his death —
[The passover was a memorial of the deliverance vouch- safed to the Jews from the sword of the destroying angel. At every returning celebration of it the reason of that ordinance was declared*. Chi'ist in his death has effected a greater deliverance for us. In partaking of the bread and wine we "shew forth" his death: we shew forth the manner of it as excruciating and bloody'': we shew forth the end of it as a sacrifice for our sins'' : we shew forth the sufficiency of it for our full salvation "^.J
We shew forth his death " till he come" —
[Christ will, in due season, come again to judge the world; then his people will no longer need such memorials as these. They will incessantly enjoy the brightest vision of his person, and the richest fruits of his death ; but till then the remem- brance of his dying love, and the expectation of his future
a In reference to Exod. xii. 26, 27. a custom obtained among the Jews that a child should ask the meaning of the passover, and that the person who presided should then give an account of its intent and origin, that so the remembrance of God's mercy might be transmitted to their latest posterity : and this was called '* the declaration" or "shewing forth." Dr. Gill on the text.
^ The breaking of the bread and the pouring out of the wine seem well calculated to impress this idea.
'^ In this light it is i-epresented by St. Paul, 1 Cor, v. 7. and by our Lord himself. Matt. xxvi. 28.
'* We express our affiance in his blood as the Jews did in the blood of the Paschal Lamb, when they sprinkled their door-posts with it, and eat of the flesh that had been roast with fire.
1978.1 THE DESIGN OP THE LORd's SUPPER. 291
advent, must be thus preserved. Such was Christ's end in instituting, and such should be our end in observing it.]
To enforce the observance of this ordinance, we will proceed to shew,
II. The necessity of attending it —
The duty of commemorating our Lord's death is much neglected ; but a neglect of it involves us in the deepest guilt. It implies,
1. Rebellion against the highest authority —
[Christ, the Supreme Governor of heaven and earth, has said, "Do this"; yet the language of too many is, 'I will not.' But they who disregarded the passover did not go un- punished®; much less shall they who slight the invitations to Christ's supper^. Surely it is no less than madness to persist in this rebellion.]
2. Ingratitude towards our greatest Benefactor —
[Christ has even " given his own life a ransom for us ;" and shall we disregard his dying command ? On the same night that he tvas betrayed, did he institute these memorials of his death. Had he at that season such a concern for us, and can we refuse to do so small a thing in remembrance of him ? The Jews went thrice every year up to Jersusalem, from the extreme parts of Judaea, to commemorate their deliverance. And shall we turn our backs on the table when it is spread before us? Shall not God visit for such ingratitude as this^?]
3. Contempt of the richest mercies —
[To communicate, without discerning the Lord's body, can profit us nothing ; but to approach the table in humility and faith is a sure mean of obtaining all spiritual blessings. Christ sometimes reveals himself in the breaking of bread, to those who had not so fully discovered him in the ministration