duo to him. An upper room. Poor and sorry is the life that has no upper room ; blesAed is the life whoso upper room is reserved for him. A furnisher!, room, all in readiness for his presence-a heart and will furnished for every good work. 3. Its con- secration. How realized? On our side, by an unreserved surrender: "The Master snith;" e.nd by the ready-making of faith and love, as symbolized in Peter and John. On his side, by the coming as the Lamb of God with the gospel of forgiveness, and as t.hc Dread of life to have communion with us and we with him. When Jesus enters the room there is a strife for precedence, for the places nearest him. St. Luke places the strife (ver. 24) along with the questioning among themselves who would be false to Christ; but bis language, "there was also," is inexact, and it seems consistent with the fitness of things that the contention should occur when seats were bein"' taken. The Master, observing it, administers the rebuke recorded in vers. 26, 27 ; and: havin"' so done, be proceeds to comply with the ceremonial of the feast. It was wont to beITT; with the passing of a cup of wine, blessed and hallowed. The word recorded in vers. 15, 16 is spoken before the dispensation of the cup; the word in vers. 17, 18 accompanies the dispensation; both words intimating the declinature to partake of the shadowy rite when the substance is so soon to be realized. "Suffer it to be so now," said Jesus to John at the baptism. The now is exhausted. "I will not any more" is the sentence of the supper-table. AIi they divide the cup, he rises. He is minded to give them the lesson never to be forgotten, as his sharpest rebuke of all their contentions for priority- the lesson so graphically related in John xiii 1-17. Resuming his place at the table, lo! a troubled look flits across the countenance. A little later in the evening he can no longer refrain. There is one seated near him over whom the heart yearns, though it recoils from his baseness (ver. 21). 'l'he hand of the betrayer is with him. " One ef you." Startled, deeply moved, the question passes from one and another, "Lord, is it I?" Simon whispers to John, "Ask who it is;" and John, leaning forward, his head close to Jesus, puts the question. He gets the sign by which the one will be identified-a morsel to be dipped in the dish that is before the Lord will be given to him. It is given to Judas, hitherto silent, something of the better self still struggling within. But, after the sop, the Satanic spirit gains in boldness. He has the effrontery to ask, "Is it I?" What is the answer? "Thou hast said .•. That thou doest do quickly." 0 Ji:das, there is no need to linger; thou art detected. "The Son or man goeth, as it is written: but woe unutterable to thee!" It is difficult to determine the precise stage in the keeping of the feast at which the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was instituted. Matthew makes the departure of the traitor precede the appointment of the ordinance. Luke seems to place the institution of the Supper at an earlier period th1m the depar- ture. But the fact of the institution is beyond douet (vers. 19-21). The Christian Church, in all ages, has obeyed the command of her beloved Lord, spoken in the guest- chamber when keeping the Passover with his disciples: "This do in remembrance of me." The central point of the interest attaching to the Thursday evening is this con- secration of the bread and the cup as the abiding pledges of redeeming love. It is sad to think that over the gracious words of Christ in the consecration so many contro- versies should have been waged. Why cannot men recognize the language of figure and symbol? Those who insist that in the sentence," Take, eat; this is my body," there is implied the transubstantiation of the cake of bread held in the hand, claim for that sentence a narrow literalism which they themselves do not observe when they read, "I am the true Vine," or "I o.m the Door." Let us receive, with all possible oblation of praise, the earthly creatures as, in sacramental use, the hallowed representations to the eye and pledges to the soul of the never-failing nourishment of the body that was broken and the blood that was shed for us. Let all who would feed on Jesus in their heart with thanksgiving reflect on the words of the Thursday evening which mirror his consciousness, and let them examine themselves in the light of this consciousness. "With desire I have desired" (ver. 15). 0 my Lord, if thy desire was thus vehe- ment• if, because of it, thou didst overlook all that lay in the immediate future; if thou didst so long to share thy feast with men, why the want of desire in me? why the backwardness and slowness of my soul to receive thee in the mysteries of thy love? Lord, lead me in thy truth, and teach me. "Until the kingdom of God shall come" (vor. 18). O my Lord, how vivid to thee was the future consummation of thy sacri- fice I As, in perspective, the distant is often near, the intervening spaces being l,1 st LUKF..-Il, P 'l'fl"E GOSPEL ACCOTIDIN"G TO ST. LUKE. [cu. xm. 1-71.
to sight, so was it with thee. 'l'hou didst behold thy kingdom in glory ne at hand, and thy soul stret~hed forward whither thy pmyer afterwards pointed,-" Father, tlmt "h1ch thou hast given me, I will that where I am they also may be with me." Why heats my pulse so slow and feeble in response to the hope of thy kingdom? Why is my Lord's Supper so much of a mere commemoration, so little of a prophetio joy, of a. prayer, as already in the vision of the kingdom? "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly." "Thou strong and loving Son of man, Rerleemer from tho bonds of sin, 'Tis thou the living spark dost fan That sets my heart on fire within. Thou openest heaven once more to mon- The soul's true home, thy kingdom, Lord; And I can trust and hope again, And feel myself akin to God."