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“ Till He Com e” The Lord’s Supper With Its Backward Look to the Cross and Forward Look to His Coming By REV. J. C. MACAULAY Toronto,
Canada sions, He was bruised for our iniqui ties,” and the significance dawns upon us, for we know that “ with His stripes we are healed.” Then the wine poured out reminds us that: “ Tlfere is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Immanuel’s veins, And sinners plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains.” We are not left with the scene of the Cross only, nor allowed to browse in the pastures of reminiscence. The token that the Lord left us is a constant re minder of the fact that He is coming again, and is intended to keep us in the spirit of expectancy for His return. In giving the cup to His disciples Jesus said, “ 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.” Whatever techni cal value we may place on the term, Kingdom of God, I am convinced that in this place Jesus referred to that time which Paul speaks of in 1 Cor. 15:2.4: “ Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father,” and as the previous verse tells us, this follows the resurrec tion of the saints, “ at His coming.” So Jesus Himself added to the memorial feast a prospective meaning by pointing forward to that glorious reunion, “ at His coming,” so teaching us to remem ber Him with the thought ever in view. “ Till He come.” I would, then, that over every communion service there could blaze in letters of living fire the words, “ Till He come.” Is there not a duty set forth even'here? It is that we should remember Him in the way
ATHERED with the disciples on the eve of His departure, Jesus gave to them a love- token whereby they should
continually remember Him. It was a keepsake; not in the form of a piece of His garment or His cross, but in such form that all saints could possess it— an ordinance. Set ting forth the order of the sacred feast, He said, “ This do in remembrance of me.” Thus wherever and whenever it is possible to eat bread and drink wine, we may thereby remember our Lord: and when a body of the redeemed meet together to remember the Lord, they do so in the partaking of bread and wine— this is the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. In it our remembrance is of the Lord Himself- As looking at a keepsake from a departed friend brings again that friend to view, so that his whole personality bears in on us as it was wont to do, so the Divine Per sonality overshadows us and seems to take possession of us as we remember Him, our great Friend, by that sacred keepsake, the Lord’s Supper. Again, as the remembrance of a friend recalls some one incident of special value in our relation with him, so this remem brance of Christ brings to view that event which means most to us, which is now ours to enjoy. In a special way this love token reminds us of the death of our Lord, for it symbolizes His death. “ As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death.” As that bread is broken be fore our eyes, we are reminded that the body of Jesus was broken, even for us, for “He was wounded- for our transgres-
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