THE lord's supper.
Matt, xxvi, 29. / say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you i7i my Fathers kingdom.
THE great object for commemoration, under the Jewish dispensation, was, the redemption of that peo- ple out of Egypt: and that which ought to occupy our minds is, the infinitely greater redemption which has been vouchsafed to us, from all the miseries of death and hell, through the mediation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The one was typical of the other, both in the means and in the end. The deliverance of the Jewish first-born from the sword of the destroying angel was effected by the blood of the Paschal lamb sprinkled on the doors and lintels of their houses ; and that which we experience is through the blood of God's only dear Son, shed for us, and sprinkled on us. In remembrance of the for- mer, the Passover was instituted, and the people ate the Paschal lamb : in remembrance of the latter, the Lord's Supper was instituted ; and we receive the consecrated bread and wine as memorials of the body and blood of Christ. The latter of these ordinances supersedes the former; and will itself continue to the end of time in remembrance of our Redeemer's death. To enter fully into the passage before us, we must notice the Lord's Supper,
I. As instituted by Christ —
It was instituted at the close of the Paschal Feast, and with a special reference to the circumstances with which that ordinance was administered. But, without entering into minute particulars, which we have only on the authority of Jewish Rabbins, and which are more curious than useful, we may observe, that this Supper was instituted,
L As a commemorative sign —
[Our blessed Lord was just about to suffer and to die for the sins of men. In order, therefore, that this mystery might