![]() ![]() Let us keep the feast as a feast, but by no means kneel as though we were performing an act of worship before an altar. That is not congruous with our western custom but the analogous position is that of sitting as much at ease as possible, which posture I would encourage you to persist in. The posture used at the feast was that of lying along- the easiest posture into which they could put themselves. The sacred supper was a feast, not a ceremony. I would not, for my part, on any account adopt the posture of kneeling in receiving the Lord’s Supper, because if it does not actually imply worship of the bread and wine, it has a tendency to lead us away from remembrance of the person himself into an adoration of the memorials. This do ye in remembrance of Christ, but not as continuing his sacrifice, which is for ever perfect. Sin is put away by his bearing it in his own body on the tree. It is finished, and our Lord has gone into his glory. The Jewish sacrifices, by reason of their insufficiency, were often repeated, but “this Man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.” They blaspheme the sacrifice of Christ who imagine that any man, call him priest or not, can continue, repeat, or complete that sacrifice for sin. Jesus never said, “This do, that ye may offer an unbloody sacrifice.” Where in Holy Scripture is there a syllable like it, either from our Lord’s own lips, or from those of the apostles? He never said, “Do this as the perpetual repetition of my death.” To my mind the very thought is blasphemy, for our Lord claims to have finished his work, and having died unto sin once, death hath no more dominion over him. Then, beloved friends, we shall have to be very watchful upon another point, namely, that if we do this, we do it for the purpose for which he gave it, namely, in remembrance of him. So would we do, because he has said, “This do,” and not something else. The Lord and his disciples sat at a table and ate: it was a feast, and not a sacrifice they reclined, and did not kneel. We have before us bread, and that not worshipped, as at the elevation of the host but broken and eaten. We use this fruit of the vine in a cup, and that cup not reserved, but partaken of by all. Whatever other communities may do, be it ours, my brethren, to stand fast by “This do in remembrance of me.” “This” simply “this,” and nothing more, and nothing less bread, not a wafer fruit of the vine, not the concoction of chemistry inflamed with fiery spirit. ![]() Imagine Paul or Peter attending mass, and observing the various genuflexions- the movings to and fro, the liftings up, and the stoopings down, and all the various operations of the Roman priesthood too many to describe! Paul would pluck Peter by the sleeve, and say, “Our Master did nothing like this when he took bread and gave thanks and brake it.” Peter would reply, “Very different this from the guest-chamber at Jerusalem!” And Paul would add, “Ay, indeed, my brother, very different this from the time when the first believers met together, and brake bread, and drank of the cup in common, in remembrance of their Lord.” They do not this, but they do something else which they have devised and elaborated. That which was only a table, they have made into an altar, and that which was a supper and nothing more, they have changed into a celebration. To break bread, and to drink wine, have not seemed to them to be sufficiently solemn, or sufficiently gorgeous, and so they have added all kinds of rites and institutions. He does not say, “Do something else in remembrance of me- something which you may choose to do, retaining this act as the backbone of it but this do.” This which has just been done: this in all its simplicity, solemnity, and intent.Īlas, how sadly have men forgotten this! The plain supper has not been a grand enough display. It is this that we are to do, and not something else which may be supposed to grow out of it. As often as ye break the bread, and as often as ye drink of the cup, remember the Lord Jesus. This act was performed at a common meal, and was not a sacrifice, nor a celebration, nor a function, nor anything more than a significant eating of bread and drinking of wine after a devout fashion. This act was done at a table where they had been eating the Passover. “This do.” Take care that you do just what Jesus did no more, and no less. ![]() “THIS do”- that is, take bread, give thanks, break it, and eat it- take the cup, filled with the fruit of the vine, give thanks, and drink ye all of it. ![]() “This do in remembrance of me.” - Luke xxii. The Lord’s Supper: A Remembrance of Jesus ![]()
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