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himself as the real and true food of our souls. All that bread is to us, Christ's body is to our
souls. All that wine is to us, Christ's blood is to our souls; and in partaking of the bread
and wine, we feed by faith upon the body and blood of the Lord.
V. He partakes with us. He sits at the table Himself, and forms one of our number. The
feast is for Him as well as for us. Here we have fellowship with Him and He with us. Here
we have the closest and dearest intercourse that we can have on earth. We see eye to eye,
we speak face to face. He gives us His love, and we give Him ours. "I am my beloved's, and
my beloved is mine," is the motto of the feast. Such are the reasons why this feast is
called the Lord's Supper. Seated at this table, and partaking of this Supper,
(1.) We look backward. And as we look back, we see the passover, we see the shew bread,
we see the cross. These all come before us as we sit at the table.
(2.) We look forward. For we shew His death till He come. We fix our eye on the coming
glory, on the resurrection blessedness, on the marriage supper of the Lamb. How bright
that future seems in a dark world like ours!
(3.) We look inward. In doing so, we ask, Is my soul prospering? This feast is meant to
nourish, Is it flourishing me? It is meant to quicken all my graces, faith, and love, and
hope, Is it doing so to me? It is meant to elevate my affections, Is it doing so to me? Do I
find my spiritual being invigorated and quickened by these heavenly viands, and by this
divine fellowship?
(4.) We look around. Brethren in the Lord are on each side. Our fellow believers, our
fellow pilgrims,-heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ,-fellow citizens of the New
Jerusalem. In each face we see one who has joined himself to our common Lord,-one who
is a member of the one body, whose head is Christ. Love circulates around, as well as joy
and peace.
(5.) We look outward. We cannot, at a feast like this, forget a world which is famishing;
shutting itself out from this heavenly feast, and reveling in its lusts and vanities. Poor
world! We say. Thou hast no gracious Master, no heavenly table, no life giving bread and
wine. Oh that ye would bethink yourselves, and turn to Him who is the Bread of Life. We
pity you, we pray for you, we plead with you to come. For here at this table we find all we
need,-the fullness of Christ. Here we taste.
(1.) His love. It is love that passeth knowledge, the love of Him that loved us and washed
us from our sins in His own blood. Yes; the love of Christ fills that cup, and pervades that
bread.
(2.) His peace and joy. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." "These things
have I spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you."
(3.) His consolations. These come to us with special power here. This is the place of
comfort, the table of comfort. Here we have Christ as the Comforter, and the Holy Ghost
also as such.
(4.) His glory. For that glory is our hope, specially at the table. Here we get the foretaste of
it. As we eat and drink, we realize the coming glory in the day of His appearing, when that
day shall break, and the shadows flee away. "Till He come!" This is our communion
watchword. "Till He come!" This is the voice of the bread and wine. In them this blessed
hope is wrapped up. To this they point and beckon us. Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go
ye out to meet Him!