The Lord's supper ..

Introduction

I HAVE examined the plan of tMs work, and partially its execution. In my judgment it is an excellent book, published very opportunely. Its title sufficiently indicates its object and its scope. It does not claim to be an elaborate, or scholastic, or controversial presentation of the subject. It is a plain, practical, spiritual treatise on the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. It might have been appropri-

IV INTRODUCTION.

ately styled "The Communicant's Assistant," or, "The Communicant's Manual." It aims to guide, and encourage, and aid the Christian in a proper and profitable observance of this holy sacrament, a duty by many members of the Church but imperfectly understood, by some wholly neglected, and by others observed with but little profit. We think no one desirous of understanding the nature, object, and obligation of this sacrament, can read this little volume without much benefit. Its wide circulation, by promoting intelligent and devout observance of this divine

INTRODUOTICHS-. V

institution, must advance the faith, and spirituality, and steadfastness of the Church. The book also seta forth the necessity of Church membership, as a logical inference from the Scriptural and sacred duty of all believers to observe this sacrament. This topic is amplified, and illustrated, and urged in a forcible and felicitous manner. N"othing could be more timely than the discussion of this subject. The pastoral spirit and clear manner in which this duty is set forth and enforced in this work can hardly fail to determine any vacillating pei'son who will candidly and

VI INTRODUCTIOI^.

prayerfully read it, to unite Mmself to the visible Churcli of Christ. I cheerfully commend the book to the Christian public, and anticipate much good from its publication.

E. S. Jaites.

New York, Feb. 4, 1859.

Preface

Some of the reasons for publishing at this time a treatise on the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper are the following : The institution is of divine appointment, and calculated above all others to strengthen the faith of those who observe it in a right manner, and to promote their growth in grace. It embraces all the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel essentially connected with that of the Atonement, which are presented to the humble recipient of the ordinance in a way to make the most favorable impression upon his mind and heart, and to kindle in his bosom the flame of devotion. It is God's own institution, in which he has promised to meet with his people, to renew his covenant of -mercy and grace with them, and to edify and strengthen them in the divine life. As a means of grace eminently adapted to advance believers in piety and holi»

4: PEEFACE.

ness, tlie primitive disciples of Christ devoutly observed it as a part, and the principal part,, of their service every time they met for worship; and no violence on the part of their enemies, not even the terrors of martyrdom, could induce them to neglect it. But it is not so now. Many members of churches make it a matter of mere convenience, rather than of principle and duty, whether they observe the ordinance or not. It evidently has so slight a hold upon the consciences and feelings of the masses of Church members in general, that the moral power it was designed to exert, and did exert in primitive times, is realized to only a very small extent, if realized at all, in edifying the body of Christ. And in addition to all this, since the commencement of the great revival which has spread over the country, many who have by means of it been brought to a knowledge of God have not connected themselves with any Church, and seem to have settled down in the opinion that they can serve God as' acceptably, and be as useful in promoting the cause of Christ, in neglect of the ordinances which he has commanded all his followers to observe, as by observing them. Thus

PEEFACE.

remaining outside of the fold, as lonely sheep in the wilderness, they are exposed to be seized and carried away by false shepherds who roam through the land, " and come not but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." These unsuspectingwanderers, who disregard the voice of the good Shepherd, and refuse or neglect to come into the fold at his bidding, need instruction and admonition to rescue them from the dangers to which they are exposed. These reasons, with others which might be named, have induced a desire that a treatise on this subject might be published adapted to the wants of the Church and the public at this juncture of time.

The immediate cause of my undertaking this work was, that I was officially requested by the "Ministers' Association" of the Wyoming district to preach a sermon before that body on the subject of the Sacrament. Not being able, on account of necessary absence, to comply with their request, it was repeated at a subsequent meeting. Being thus led to turn my attention particularly to an investigation of the subject, I was more deeply impressed than ever before with the importance of it; and the materials which, b PEEFACE.

by a cursory view, seemed easily wrought into a sermon of ordinary length, have grown into a volume. Sure I am, if the subject shall take as deep a hold, and make as strong an impression upon the reader's feelings and upon his soul, while perusing the work, as it did upon mine while w^riting it, he will profit by it. I only wonder that I never before appreciated this ordinance as I was led to do while investigating it. That the reader, in perusing this unpretending little volume, may be benefited in like manner, is my most smcere and ardent prayer.

As to the style of the work I have no care to say anything. I have endeavored to express my thoughts in the plainest manner, so as to be understood by all. If I have succeeded in this I shall be satisfied. And if the work shall prove a blessing to any, in stirring them up to duty, and advancing them in piety and holiness, it will be more than a compensation for all my study and labor, God grant that it may !

S. LUCKEY.

East Gainesville, September^ 1858.

Chapter I. The Institution Of The Lord's Supper

And as they were eating, 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. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives. — Matt. xxvi, 26-30.

And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said. Take, eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them : and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many. Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.— Mark xiv, 22-26.

And lie took bread, and gave thanks, and "brake it, and gave Tinto them, saying, Tliis is my body, which is given for you : this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cnp after supper, saying, This cup is tha New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you. — Luke xxii, 19-20.

Eor 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 show the Lord's death till he come.— 1 Cor. xi, 23-26.

A PERPETUAL observance of tlie Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was enjoined by Christ upon his disciples under circumstances calculated to make a deep and abiding impression on the minds and hearts of all who respect his commandments. The institution of the ordinance, and the command to observe it, are set forth in the portions of Scripture I have quoted above ; and our dutyrespecting it is to be deduced from a careful examination of the acts of the Saviour in instituting it, the circumstances under which he performed those acts, and the terms employed by him to explain their import and design.

ITS mSTITUTIOIT. 11

Let us consider for a moment the time and place chosen by the Master for the institution of this ordinance. It was at his last celebration of the Jewish Passover, which was instituted and observed in commemoration of the deliverance of God's chosen people from Egyptian bondage, and typical of " the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." John i, 29. It thus marks the period of the Church's transition from the dispensation of the law to that of the Gospel, and designates the institution as a gospel ordinance, taking the place of the paschal supper under the law.

It was a time, too, in the history of Christ's humiliation, calculated to make every remembrance of it impressively tender and dear to all his pious followers.

It was " the same night in which he was betrayed." 1 Cor. xi, 23. This solemn truth dwelt in his own breast. Though he had repeatedly signified to his disciples that he was soon to be offered up, they probably had no such lively view of the event as the history of a few days furnished them and all who should afterward believe. They were not probably affected by the com mand, " Do this in remembrance of me," at the first supper, as they were after the scene of the ci'ucifixion. But the fact that in his bosom alone dwelt the secret that it was his dying injunction to his endeared followers, was calculated to render it the more tender and impressive when in after time they should recall the event with all its heart-stirring associations.

These associations are full of interest, and cannot fail, if devoutly called up in the mind, favorably to dispose the heart and affections preparatory to a discharge of this Christian duty. I dv/ell upon this thought because it is eminently practical in its tendency. Christian, contemplate your Saviour as he sits among his disciples, piously celebrating for the last time the feast of the passover. Three years he had led this confiding band through evil and good report, instructing, comforting, and blessing them. Great was his love toward them, and great was their love toward him. He knew their expectations of a temporal kingdom in this world. He knew their ignorance of the nature and glory of the kingdom he came to establish. He knew, too, the sorrow that filled their hearts when he said to them, "I

ITS mSTITUTION. 13

go away." John xvi, Y. With tender regard for their weakness he prepared them, by kind words and soothing promises, which they but imperfectly understood, for .the scenes of suffering and sorrow which were about to open upon them. He had conversed with Moses and EHas in presence of some of them, and been transfigured before them, to show them his future glory, and the means by which he must enter into it. He had discoursed to them largely and explicitly upon his coming in the clouds of heaven on the last day to judge the world, and to reward his faithful followers with a crown of glory. He had promised them the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, to be with them after his departure. All this, and much more, he had said and <lone within a few days, to prepare them for the solemn event which was then about to occur. But they understood not what all these things meant. He alone realized the truth that his '*hour was come;" and, like a kind and tender father, moved to leave a memorial of affection to his children when about to be called away from them by death, he designates the simple memorial which in all coming

time should be a test of their affection for him 2

Surely indifference to this command of our bless" ed Lord, made at such a time and under such circumstances, is sad evidence of want of that affection which we owe to him.

On this point I may add that this ordinance was instituted before the event it commemorates had transpired. It was, as all agree, his death upon the cross, which was shortly to occur, rather than his acts and sayings during his ministry, which were past, that he would have them remember. Remember me as your atoning Redeemer and Saviour. But what was there in the death of Christ, considered merely as the tragical end of a great, good, and wise man, which could induce him to desire and enjoin that a perpetual memorial of it should be kept by his followers ? It was a death inflicted by human authority upon malefactors, and he would have borne, in the estimation of the world, the ignominy of such a death, however undeserved, had he remained under its power. What was there in such a death of their beloved Master that could induce his disciples to take more interest in it than in his life, or to hold it in joyous memory, and celebrate it by a festive rite ? Surely nothing. Rather would they have

ITS INSTITUTION. 15

banislied every thought of it from their miDd, as evidence of their disappointed hopes of his triumph over his enemies. Yet it was to celebrate this death, and all the sufferings through which he was about to pass to accomplish it, that the supper was instituted by Christ. How was his Divine mind filled with all the grace and glory conveyed to wretched man by his death upon the cross ! Sublime was the spectacle indeed ! To see the Man of sorrows, just entering upon the scene of his vicarious sufferings, alone conscious of the benefits of those sufferings to a lost world, instituting a memorial by which his people were to remember him in these sufferings, is evidence of his fidelity to the Father to finish his work, and his care for his followers in providing for them a perpetual means of grace and spiritual edification.

With the scene of the supper fresh in their minds, and the command of their Lord written upon their hearts, I do not wonder that the early disciples commemorated it often ; that they made it a part of their service whenever they met for worship. I^OY do I wonder that they chose death — the death of martyrs — rather than neglect a duty so solemnly enjoined upon them. A due reflection upon these circumstances connected with the institution of this ordinance, ought to inspire us with a deeper sense of our obligation more devoutly and more frequently to observe it than is usual with professing Christians.

SIMPLICITY OF ITS rNSTITUTIOH. 17

Chapter II

SIMPLICITY OF MANNER IN WHICH THE ORDINANCE OF THE LORD'S SUPPER WAS INSTITUTED.

The simple manner in which our Lord introduced this ordinance has struck me as worthy of remark. There was no previous announcement of his design to do so. No antecedent command, as in the case of the passover, to prepare for it, or directions how to prepare. ISTo noise as of a mighty rushing wind, or appearance of cloven tongues of fire, as at the outpouring of the Spirit, whose special mission under the Gospel dispensation was to be commemorated by the rite of baptism, as a Gospel ordinance, which was enjoined upon the disciples by their Master after his resurrection. JSTothing of the kind occurred to call up the attention of the apostles to what their Master was about to say and do, as anything extraordinary, much less as the introduction of an institution to be observed by his followers in all future time, more important in its nature

18 THE LOED'S SUPPEK.

and design than any other which had ever been ordained by him, or ever would be. He took bread, gave thanks, and gave it to them to eat : and then took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them to drink. This is all that was visible to the senses in the transaction. And this, it seems, was a usage among the Jews on such occasions. He had eaten the passover with the disciples, at which he had exposed the treachery of Judas. And afterward, as they were eating, "Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them." As they were eating "the bread, or cake," as Mr. Benson says, " which the master of the family used to divide among them after they had eaten the passover." Apart from the words spoken by our Lord, and the attendant circumstances of the passover before, and the crucifixion that so soon followed, what was there in the simple act of distributing the bread and wine among the disciples calculated to impress them that it contained the significance of a Bolemn rite to be observed by Christians to the end of time? Nothing at all. At most it was a friendly expression of good-will among friends, and might be practiced, and has been, and is

SIMPLICITY OF ITS IKSTITUTION". 19

practiced, without suggesting a thought of its being a sacrament. The same is true of the ordinance as administered in Protestant churches to the present day. Who, coming into one of our churches, and witnessing the ceremony of administering the sacrament, without any knowledge of the consecration service, or the design and import of the ordinance other than what they derived from simply witnessing the distribution of the bread and wine, would deem it of sufficient significance to engage the devout attention of the pious, to be observed by them as a religious rite 1 This absence of all pomp and show, of everything calculated to invest it with magnificence and render it attractive to the senses as a new and extraordinary institution, is the cause, perhaps, why so little importance has been attached to it from the beginning by . unbelievers and merely nominal professors, who seem to say in their hearts, if not in direct terms : " Of what use can so tame and unmeaning a ceremony as eating a little bread and drinking a little wine be to render an habitual observance of it binding upon the consciences of rational beings?" To such it can be of no use. It never was ; it never will

20 THE LOKD^S SUPPEE.

be. They are totally disqualified to profit by the ordinance under any circumstances.

But lest more seriously disposed persons be led to undervalue and neglect this ordinance, by indulging in similar reflections respecting it, we should not fail to have the truth duly impressed upon the minds of all, that it is not the ordinance which claims our pious devotions and affectionate remembrance, but the great mystery of the atonement, with all its benefits. For this reason its very simplicity commends it to our approval and admiration. Man has always been prone in his religious tendencies to worship the creature more than the Creator — the sensible representation of the invisible more than the invisible represented. This is the source of all the idolatry in the world. And it has been the unhappy cause of no small degree of idolatry in the Church. Hence did the Lord Jehovah forbid the bowing down in worship to the image or likeness of anything in heaven above or earth beneath. Yet the abomination that maketh desolate has again and again been seen in the holy place, A bigoted devotion has been paid, and is paid, even in Protestant Churches, to mere circumstantials in the ordi-

SIMPLICITY OF ITS rN-STITUTION. 21

nanees and service of the house of God. Forms and modes have been dignified with the attributes of essentials in religion. And in the worship of God, who, through these forms, instituted for our help, is to be worshiped in spirit and in truth, it is to be feared (it can scarcely be doubted) that these outward things greatly distract the minds of many, if they have not a pre-eminence in them to an extent which amounts to idolatry. How happily is the institution of the Lord's Supper guarded by its simpUcity from all such tendencies. There is nothing in it calculated to divert our thoughts from the great object of our meditations and devout reverence which it is intended to represent. It has indeed been perverted. It has been made an object of worship. But to adapt it to such a use the bread has been converted into the real body, and the wine into the real blood of Christ, by the vain imagination of corrupt minds. Admitting this to be the truth, that our Lord was presenting to the disciples not bread and wine simply, as indicated to the senses, but his real body and blood, and by an easy process it is made an object of worship. But so the apostles did not understand him. So we do not understand him. The fiction is too absurd for belief. Divested then of everything except what was plainly brought before the senses of the disciples, perceived and contemplated by them as their understanding dictated, the whole transaction seemed eminently devised to guard against its being observed with a veneration for the institution calculated either to impair the mental unity, so important in our approach to our great atoning sacrifice through the use of it, or to divert the mind and affections from the thing signified, by suffering them to be unduly ensnared and captivated by the mere sign.

In our preparation for the communion of the Lord's table, we should endeavor to have our minds duly impressed with this view of the subject, and approach it, through this simple ordinance, by faith in the great atonement it seta forth.

ITS SIONIFIO^NCE. 23

Chapter III

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ORDINANCE, AS IN- DICATED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH AT- TENDED THE INSTITUTION OF IT, AND IMME- DIATELY FOLLOWED IT.

This ordinance, though so simple, is significant — eminently significant — and was designed by the Saviour to be so received and understood by his followers then and forever. Its significance is derived from the time and place of its institution ; the circumstances, past, present, and future, with which it was connected ; and the words spoken by the Saviour defining its nature and design. A calm consideration of all these will prepare the pious believer to appreciate its value and importance, and observe it in the spirit of that faith and devotion which is necessary to secure the benefits it is designed to convey.

We have already noticed that this sacrament was instituted at the place where our Lord celebrated the last passover with his disciples. The passover was instituted in Eg-ypt, to commemorate tlie deliverance of God's people from their bondage to Pharaoh. It was a type, also, of a deliverer which God had promised for the redemption of the world. So it was received and understood by the whole nation, who every year made the offering required by the law for this purpose. Not only was this ordinance annually celebrated until the time of John the Baptist, but during his peculiar dispensation. Christ, with his disciples, observed it. In this, as in othe'r similar acts, he manifested his respect for the ordinances and ceremonies of the law. It was in compliance with an ordinance of the law that he was baptized of John, and thus visibly inaugurated into his public ministry. He taught in the temple, and worshiped there, calling it his Father's house. All through his sojourn with his disciples, he practiced what the law enjoined, condemning only the vain traditions of the Pharisees. All these things he taught and observed, as of divine appointment, up to the time of instituting this sacrament.

The event was rendered peculiarly solemn from the frequent allusions he had made to his dis-

ITS SIGNIFICANCE. 25

ciples, that the time of his departure out of the world was at hand. He had just told them that he must go up to Jerusalem, and suffer many things, and he put to death. He expressed an earnest desire to eat the passover with them at that time, in language calculated to convince them that in his divine mind there was something of peculiar interest in the occasion. He announced, too, on that occasion, that he would eat it no more with them until he should eat it new in his Father's kingdom. Add to this what followed the supper : Judas, one of them, had been detected and exposed as the guilty betrayer of his master, and left them to consummate his diabolical deed of perfidy and crime. And when they had sung a hymn they went out into the mount of Olives, and he discoursed to them of the things of the kingdom. That beautiful and instructive discourse about the vine and the branches, showing the mystic union between him and his followers, with the soul-supporting declaration : " I go to prepare a place for you," (John xiv, 3,) were uttered to them on that memorable night in the garden of agony and sweat, or on their Way to it. Weighed down in spirit, he said to his beloved James and Jolm: "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." Matt, xxvi, 38. He was alone in his agony while his wondering, weary disciples were heavy with sleep ; and he cried, ''Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." Matt, xxvi, 39. Betrayed by a kiss into the hands of his enemies, to be confronted by false witnesses, and condemned by a mock trial to a malefactor's death, he was rudely dragged away by them. Forsaken by his followers, and denied by one who had said, "Though I die with thee yet will I not deny thee," (Matt, xxvi, 35,) he was made the sport and contem|)t of profane soldiers and an infuriated populace. He bore his own cross to the place of execution, and fainted under the exhausting burden. And on the cross his greatest anguish was the withdrawal of his Father's comfort and support. He prayed for his enemies, cried, " It is finished," and gave up the ghost at the very time for eating the paschal supper, which, on this occasion, he anticipated with his disciples. All this occurred on ,the night and the day following the institution of the supper.

And then consider the miracle which attended

ITS SIGNIFICANCE. 27

this scene : the supernatural darkness whicl. spread over the whole land of Judea, from the sixth until the ninth hour; the terrible earthquake, and the rending of the vail of the temple from the top to the bottom; and all the portentous signs which caused his guilty murderers to tremble, and, as is believed, prevented the service of the paschal supper being observed in all the nation, except by Christ and his disciples, that year.

Deeply and solemnly were his followers affected by the scenes of those few hours. Nor did they fully understand their mysterious import. The shepherd was smitten and the sheep scattered. With his lacerated body their hopes were buried in the tomb. Three dreary days and nights they wandered, and mourned, and wept. But a new impulse was awakened in their throbbing bosoms when, early on the first day of the week, it was proclaimed that the Lord had risen from the dead, and appeared to Mary and to Peter. Echo sounded it out from hill-top to hill-top, and through the vales and ravines within and without the walls of the forsaken and blood-stained city. His guilty murderers caught the alarm, and colluded witli the soldiers to proclaim it a fraud. The disciples were slow to believe it. When Mary Magdalene and her companions told the apostles that two angels whom they had seen at the sepulcher had said, "He is not here, but is risen," (Luke xxiv, 6,) "their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not." Luke xxiv, 11. They would not be deceived. 'Nov would the Master deceive them. As their weakness could bear it, he presented additional demonstrations of the reality of his death and resurrection, and the great end for which he died and rose again. As two disciples, on their way to Em mans, were talking of these things, he revealed himself to them. They returned the same hour to Jerusalem and found the eleven together, and they that were with them, and said to them, " The Lord is risen indeed." Then and there, at the same moment, Jesus stood in their midst. He said, "Behold my hands, and my feet, that it is I myself." He "showed them his hands and feet," his wounds upon the cross, whence issued the blood which he shed " for the remission of sins." Luke xxiv, 39, 40. And he said unto them, "These are the