The Lord’s Supper–a Remembrance Of Jesus

The Lord's Supper–a Remembrance Of Jesus

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, AUGUST 19, 1888,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"This do in remembrance of Me." Luke 22:19.

"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 you
all of it. "This do." Take care that you do just what Jesus did–no
more and no less. This act was done at a table where they had been
eating the Passover. 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 do–as often as you break the bread and as often as you
drink of the cup–remember the Lord Jesus.

It is this that we are to do and not something else which may be
supposed to grow out of it. 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.

Alas, how sadly have men forgotten this! The plain supper has not been
a grand enough display. 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. 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. They do not
this but they do something else which they have devised and elaborated.

Imagine Paul or Peter attending mass and observing the various
genuflections–the moving to and fro, the lifting up and the stooping
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 broke it."
Peter would reply, "Very different this from the guest-chamber at
Jerusalem!" And Paul would add, "Yes, indeed, my Brother, very
different this from the time when the first Believers met together and
broke bread and drank of the cup in common, in remembrance of their
Lord."

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. We use this
fruit of the vine in a cup and that cup not reserved but partaken of by
all. We have before us bread and that not worshipped, as at the
elevation of the host–but broken and eaten. 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. So would we do, because He has said,
"This do," and not something else. 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. Jesus never said, "This do, that you 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 has no more
dominion over Him. The Jewish sacrifices, by reason of their
insufficiency, were often repeated–but "this Man, after He had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, 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.

It is finished and our Lord has gone into His Glory. Sin is put away by
His bearing it in His own body on the tree. This do you in remembrance
of Christ but not as continuing His sacrifice, which is forever
perfect. I would not, for my part, on any account adopt the posture of
kneeling in receiving the Lord's Supper. 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 elements.

The sacred supper was a feast, not a ceremony. The posture used at the
feast was that of lying along–the easiest posture into which they
could put themselves. 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. 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.

Adoration of the invisible God is always right and proper. But if a
certain posture seems to take away from the very essence of the
festival–and a festival it is–and if in addition it encourages
superstition–then kneel not but sit and do this in remembrance of
Christ. Do this and nothing else and do it in remembrance and for no
other purpose. And if any other posture looks another way, abjure it
and keep close to that for which you have a precedent. The Church of
Rome prizes the great picture by Leonardo di Vinci and in it all the
Apostles are seated at the table. Is this at all like the mass? The
supper is to be eaten in remembrance and for nothing more. But that, as
we shall have to show you, is no little thing. "This do in remembrance
of Me."

Seeing that this is a feast of remembrance, let us ask ourselves a
question–Do we know the Lord? "This do in remembrance of Me." If you
know nothing of a person. If you have had no acquaintance with him, you
cannot remember him. Like a two-edged sword, this simple statement of
truth sweeps through this audience tonight and divides it in two.
Whether or not I may come to the Lord's Table must depend upon whether
I know the Lord Jesus, or do not know Him. If I am a stranger to Him, I
may not come, for I may only come to remember Him and I cannot come to
remember Him if I do not know Him. So it is a profanation of this
blessed institution for any man to draw near to the table who does not
know Christ already.

O Sirs, this is no saving ordinance–it was never meant to be. Its
intent relates only to those who are saved. To know Jesus Christ is
eternal life. And as you may not come without that knowledge, it is
clear that you may not come unless you are saved. If any of you dream
that your participation in your last moments in what is called "the
sacrament" will save you, you are under a deep delusion. You may as
well trust to the incantations of a witch as to the performance of any
ceremony whatever, by whomsoever, in order to convey salvation to you.
Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ alone.

And that is not worked by the corporeal act of swallowing bread and
wine. You must be born again. And that is not effected by material
substances, however consecrated–it is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Until you have believed in Jesus and so know Him and know His power
within you and have come to personal dealings with Him–instead of
getting a blessing from the ordinance–you would eat and drink
condemnation to yourselves, not discerning the Lord's body. You are not
capable of discerning that body if you have no faith. Let every man
examine himself as to his knowledge of our Lord and so let him eat of
this bread and drink of this cup. If you do not know Him you cannot
remember Him and therefore hands off from the tokens of remembrance.

One word–one solemn word here, which I would speak with my whole soul.
Remember–if you do not know Him–the day will come in which He will
say to you, "/ never knew you." If there is no personal intimacy
between you and Christ, He will disown you in the day when He comes in
the glory of His Father and all His holy angels with Him. It will be
idle to say, "Lord, we have eaten and drunk in Your presence and You
have taught in our streets." If you do not know Him, He does not know
you and there will be simply this reply to all your claim derived from
external religion– "Depart from Me, you cursed, I never knew you."

But, dearly Beloved, if you do know the Lord–and I trust that many
here do, indeed, know Him–then it is certain that He has manifested
Himself to you. Wondrous love! Lord, how is it that You will manifest
Yourself to us? You have looked to Him. You have trusted in Him. You
have lived upon Him. And all this because He has remembered you in your
low estate. You remember Him with joy at this moment because of your
past experience of Him. He is so dear to you that you must remember
Him. You could not live without Him. He is all your salvation and all
your desire. Well, then, it is for you to come to this festival and do
this in remembrance of Him.

I. My first point shall be that THE MAIN OBJECT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER IS
EVIDENTLY THAT WE SHOULD REMEMBER CHRIST BY IT. Notice this
particularly. It is not that you should call to mind a doctrine–
though I would not have you ignorant or unmindful of any Truth of God
which the Spirit of God has revealed. Neither is it that you should be
mindful of a precept, though, Beloved, I would have you be careful that
in all things you do your

Savior's will. But the essence of your business at His table is, "This
do in remembrance of Me," that is, of Himself–of His own blessed
Person.

Think not of Him as an abstraction! Dream not of Him as a mere idea! Do
not merely contemplate Him as an historical Personage who was once
before men and has now passed from off the canvas of history, as
Confucius, Zoroaster, or the like. No. He ever lives and abides an
actual, ever energetic force and power among men of every age. Jesus is
of that Divine Nature which dwells perpetually in the present
tense–the same yesterday, today and forever.

Beloved, as you live by Him, you must learn to live in Him and with
Him, so as to know Him as a Friend with whom you are really familiar.
The Christ of our dreams is but a dream. We need a real, living,
personal Christ and it is Jesus Christ Himself that we have to remember
tonight at this table.

And if we do this, we shall remember Him, first, with gratitude as our
Savior. If I have anything of hope, I owe it all to You, incarnate God,
Son of the Highest and Son of Mary, too. Your love, Your life, Your
death, Your resurrection, Your power at the right hand of God–these
must be the pillars of my hope, if hope I have at all–

"All our immortal hopes are laid In You, our Surety and our Head; Your
Cross, Your cradle and Your Throne, Are big with glories yet unknown."
He has saved us, Brethren, and loved us and blessed us with everlasting
consolation within Himself. Oh, let us think of Him! The streams of
which you drink are sweet. But think of the fountainhead. Your healing
is a thing to sing of forever. Remember that you are healed by His
stripes and think of those cruel scourges, those five wounds, that body
covered with a bloody sweat, that dear, thorn-encircled brow, those
eyes all dimmed with blood. Remember Jesus Himself, I pray you, and
think neither of pardon, nor of justification, nor of sanctification
apart from Him.

The streams of love I trace up to the fountain in the heart of Christ
and remember Him tonight with deepest gratitude. Follow me, my Beloved,
in this meditation–yes, go before me and get nearer to the heart of
your Redeemer. You must remember Him, next, with profound reverence as
your living example–your living and reigning Lord. Know you not that
as many of you as have been washed in His blood are henceforth God's
servants, even as He was? You are not to do your own will but His will
who has redeemed you. His example is to you the embodiment of the
Lord's will. Do we not sweetly sing–

"My dear Redeemer and my Lord, I read my duty in Your Word; But in Your
life the Law appears Drawn out in living characters"? It is yours,
then, to remember the Lord Jesus that you may follow Him. In sickness,
remember Him in His patience. When you are persecuted, remember Him in
His gentleness. In holy service, remember Him with His burning zeal. In
your times of solitude, remember Him and His midnight prayers. And when
you are in public and have to bear witness, remember Him and His
lion-like declarations of the Gospel. Remember Him so that He becomes
your pattern and you are the reproduction of Himself and so the best
memorial of Him.

Thus enabled by the Holy Spirit to remember your Lord with gratitude as
your Savior, with reverence as your Lord, you will remember Him with
confidence as your strength. He has not left you in this world to serve
Him at your own charges and to bear His Cross alone. Remember Him, for
He remembers you so as to be ever with you. "Lo, I am with you always,"
says He, "even unto the end of the world." Will you let Him be near you
unnoticed and unremembered? Never say, "I am lonely." You are not alone
if you remember Jesus. O widow and fatherless one, say not, "I am
comfortless." He has said, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will
come to you."

Remember Him without ceasing. When you are strong, remember Him. For
your strength comes from Him. When you are weak, remember him. For He
can give you the help you need. Oh, that in all times and places Christ
were All in All to us!–

"Remember You! Your death, Your shame Our hearts 'sad load to bear! O
memory, leave no other name But His recorded there!"

I would have the image of my Lord printed on the palms of my hands,
that I might do nothing without Him. And I would have it painted on my
eyes, that I might see nothing except through Him. It were better still
to have it stamped upon my heart, that my very life might not beat
except to the music of His name.

Remember Him, too, Beloved, as your great representative before the
Throne of God. O Believer, at this very moment Heaven is yours! Jesus,
your Forerunner, has taken possession of eternal glory in your name.
The Throne of God has in the midst of it the glorified Man, the
everlasting Son of God, who is the Covenant Head and Redeemer of His
people. Never forget Him but keep your eye fixed upon Him, even as He
keeps His eye upon you. He lives! The great Redeemer lives! He lives to
plead for you.

Do not get into the habit of the Romish Church, which exhibits its dead
Christ everywhere, or its baby Christ in the virgin's arms. Jesus is
neither of these at this time. "He is not here–He is risen." He lives!
It is the living Christ that we believe in, the ascended Christ we are
trusting in, the Christ to come that we are hoping for. There, where He
pleads with all authority, is our grand hope, for "He is able to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives
to make intercession for them."

Remember Him, once again, as soon to come. Perhaps while yet these lips
are feebly fashioning halting words concerning wondrous mysteries, the
trumpet may ring out above all earthly sounds. Even on this Sabbath
night we may be called to behold the cloud upon which the Son of Man
has come! "Of that day and hour knows no man." And vain is the folly
which is perpetually prophesying of that concerning which it knows
nothing. Yet this is certain–the Lord Jesus will come to judge and to
reign. "Behold, the Bridegroom comes."

He said long ago, "Behold, I come quickly." He has been coming in haste
ever since and He must be drawing very near. Now this is what we are
always to remember–for His coming will be the manifestation of His
people as well as of Himself–His coming will witness the reward of His
saints as well as His own reward. Then shall He shine forth. And with
Him, "the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of
their Father."

Alas, we too much forget Him in all these aspects! I fear that we more
easily forget than remember. And yet the remembrance of One so dear
should be natural to us. Did you suspect, when you were first
converted, that you could ever forget Him? "Oh, no," you said–

"Let the babe forget its mother, Let the bridegroom slight his bride;
True to You, I'll love no other, Clinging closely to Your side." So we
said but not so have we done. How often we act as if we had not the
living Christ to run to! We fret as if Jesus were still lying in the
sepulcher. We act as if we were going to live here forever and did not
expect our Lord to come and take us away to be with Him. We act as if
we had no Master but our own wanton will. We act despairingly as if we
had no Shepherd to take care of us and no Savior who had redeemed us
with His precious blood. Come, Brethren, this will never do. It is
dishonorable to our Lord and disgraceful to ourselves. You see the
reason why the supper should have been insti-tuted–our treacherous
memories require it.

Let us gather to it as to a most needful, though right royal feast. For
we have need to be reminded of our own dear Lord, who sweetly says to
us, "This do in remembrance of Me."

II. And now I take a second point. I want to show you all that THE MODE
WHICH OUR LORD HAS ORDAINED OF HELPING OUR MEMORIES IS IN ITSELF
EXCEEDINGLY STRIKING. It could not be more so. If I stood opposite to
an altar garnished with paper roses and other childish things, and if I
were to try and perform before you all: some of these cute little
functions which are considered sacred by the followers of Rome–I
should need a long time to explain it all to you.

And when I had done my best, you would not be able to make heads or
tails of it. I have stood and watched the Catholic priest at the altar
with the earnest desire to see if there was anything to be learned and
I could not learn anything. I could not make out what the ornamental
person was at. I think I have read as much as most people about such
things. But it does seem to me that if the behavior of the priest at
the mass is a symbol, it is a very dark one–if it is intended to teach
the people–they need to know a great deal before they can learn
anything from it.

Surely to find anything in the mass, the devout must bring it with
them, for there is nothing there. But if you look at yonder table, you
will see before you simply bread and wine. And when you see us
celebrate the ordinance tonight, you

will notice that we do nothing but break the bread and eat it and pass
round the cup and drink. All that is done is extremely simple. And the
Savior seemed to wish for that simplicity, because He was Himself a
very simple, unaffected, plain Man.

All the pomp that He ever had was when He rode through Jerusalem. But
it was on a colt, the foal of an ass. Even then all the pomp consisted
in this–the people laid their garments in the road and strewed
branches along the way in the excess of their joy. Golden ornaments and
flowers and incense and acolytes are far removed from His plain and
natural habits. Only fancy some of His disciples rising from the dead
and stepping into–well–St. Paul's cathedral, which is called
Protestant but is about as Popish as it very well can be.

Supposing they walked in there–James and John together–the two sons
of Zebedee. Perhaps stopping before some of the pretty things, James
would wonderingly ask, "John, where have we got?" And John would say,
"We are in a chamber of imagery, a temple of idols. Our Lord Jesus
would not be happy here." "Why," says James, "it is Paul's Church.
Fetch him in." Surely when Paul came in and looked at all those images
and decorations, he would say, "Here I see another Gospel, which is not
another. But there are some that trouble you and would pervert the
Gospel of Christ."

That is putting it mildly. We are getting to have the idolatries of
Rome set up in the Churches called national. And this is not done by
those called outwardly and honestly, Romanists, but by those who are
really so in their hearts, and yet wear the Protestant name. The Lord
Jesus Christ was just a simple peasant at Galilee and the garment He
wore was analogous to our common smock frock, a garment "without seam,
woven from the top throughout." There was not a bit of stateliness or
affectation about Him. And in all that He ordained you cannot find one
single pompous ceremony.

His followers were baptized in water–where did He ordain salt and oil
and spittle? Where did He bid them make the "sign of the cross" or set
forth "sponsors"? His followers gathered for worship and sang hymns in
His praise but where were their "thuribles" and their "crucifers"?
Where were "the stations of the cross"? Where are all these things in
the Scriptures? They are inventions of later and darker days, but Jesus
knew nothing of them–neither did His Apostles and those who followed
them know nothing of such rubbish.

It was all plain telling of the dear love of God to men and of how men
should love one another and love Jesus as their Savior–and that was
it. Our Lord instituted this simple supper as the memorial of a plain,
simple, honest Savior who had no gaudy tricks or priest craft about Him
but was simply a Man among men.

But, next, our Lord's Supper was intended to be very frequent. "This do
you, as oft as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." He has laid down no
rule as to when we shall break bread. But the custom was certainly to
break it on the first day of the week and I think oftener, for it seems
to me that they broke bread from house to house. It was not a ceremony
that required a minister or a priest. When Believers were together they
broke bread in memory of Christ–any two or three of them–and so they
remembered Him.

It is most delightful, when traveling, to remember Christ in your own
room, where two or three Brethren meet together. You have nothing to do
but to break bread and drink wine in remembrance of Him. I know of
nothing more sweet or more instructive than this Divine ordinance,
which grows more impressive the oftener you attend to it. It ought to
be frequent. Our Scotch friends were wrong–as wrong could be in having
it so seldom–but they are mending. The frequency of it is to show how
often we need to be reminded of our dear Lord–for we are prone to
forget Him. We ought always to remember Him. And therefore an
institution intended to keep up our memory should be frequently used.

Since He bids His disciples do it often, there is an instruction in it
that we should constantly remember Him in our inmost souls. Inasmuch as
He gave this for a memorial and for nothing else and gave it to all His
disciples–bidding all His followers, until He should come–do this in
remembrance of Him, it was to show that we all need to remember Him and
all need help to do so. We are all forgetful–the best Christian,
highest in Divine Grace still needs this memorial, for he is apt to
forget. Backsliding Christians need it, if possible, still more, that
their failing memories may be revived. Sinners will do well to look
upon it, for it may be that the memorials of the Lord's death may cause
them to remember their sins and turn to their Savior.

But to come a little closer to the table. I want you to notice that
when our Lord bids us remember Himself–"This do in remembrance of
Me"–he gives us an ordinance which brings before us His death. Now,
this, though it looks a very trite saying, is a very important point.
The bread is His flesh, the wine His blood. They represent those two
things. But

they are separated–the bread is not in the wine, nor the wine in the
bread. The two in separate vessels represent a body with the blood
separated from it and thus they are the token of death.

Very well, then. When the Lord says, "This do in remembrance of Me," He
gives us a memorial of His death–which plainly teaches us that the
chief point of remembrance in our Lord Jesus is His death. He Himself
regarded His death as the very center, heart and soul of what He would
fix on our memories. Therefore those who say that His example is
everything, or His teaching is everything, do greatly err–for when we
remember Him, the first thing to be remembered is, "He has redeemed us
to God by His blood." "Redeemer" is the name to which our memories must
most tenaciously cling. His blood, His redemption, His atonement, His
substitutionary sacrifice are always to be kept to the front.

"We preach Christ crucified," and you believe in Christ crucified. The
reason of our success under God in this House of Prayer is that we have
always preached Christ as the atoning sacrifice–the sinner's
Substitute. And whosoever shall preach this boldly, clearly and
thoroughly, putting it as the crown of the Gospel system, shall find
God will bless His preaching. As for you, if you would have comfort and
joy and peace, cling to the Cross. Look steadily to the accepted
sacrifice. Never get away from your Lord Jesus. And when you remember
Him, let His passion be the main thought which rises before you.

Next, notice another thing–this festival reminds us of the Covenant of
Grace. Our Lord Jesus Christ, while He bade us remember Himself, said
of the cup, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood." That is the
word. Read "testament," if you prefer it. But I feel sure you are
nearer the sense when you read "the new covenant in My blood." What,
then? When I am to remember Jesus Himself, I am to take the cup which
is the token of the Covenant. Ah, Beloved, you cannot know Christ
thoroughly unless you understand the doctrine of the two Covenants and
connect Him with the Covenant of Grace.

You must know that "Covenant, ordered in all things and sure." For the
cup is to remind you of it, by reminding you of Him. Christ is best
seen when you see Him in His Covenant relationship. Do you all know
about that Covenant? You know there was a Covenant made with Adam in
which we were all included. But that Covenant failed. Father Adam broke
it and we all lost the blessing which his obedience would have procured
us. There is another Covenant made with the second Adam–Christ
Jesus–and because He has kept the Covenant, all that are in that
Covenant stand forever in

Him.

"As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive" who are in
Christ. The one Covenant ruined all that were in it–the second
Covenant saves all that are in it. As we take that cup, we do own and
accept joyfully our interest in that Covenant which was made with
Christ, which is established on the sure foundation of His perfect
obedience. Behold the blood of the EVERLASTING COVENANT! May the Lord
Jesus be brought to your memory tonight as your Covenant Head and
Surety. And as you drink of the cup, may you feel confidence and joy in
Him who is your Surety!

May your soul sing, "Although my house be not so with God. Yet He has
made with me an Everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things and sure.
This is all my salvation and all my desire." You see, then, the oceans
of instruction which lie in one of the emblems. Lose none of it.

But there is yet one more thing. It is this. You are taught by this
institution that the very best way in which you can remember Christ is
by receiving Him. Oh, the sweetness of that Truth, if you will remember
it when you come to this table! You are not asked to bring bread with
you. It is here. You are not asked to bring a cup with you. It is here
already provided. What have you to do? Nothing but to eat and to drink.
You have to be receivers and nothing more.

Well, now, whenever you want to remember your Lord and Master, you need
not say, "I must do something for Him." No, no! Let Him do something
for you. "Take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the
Lord"–

"The best return for one like me, So wretched and so poor, Is from His
gifts to draw a plea, And ask Him still for more."

Lord, I cannot love You as I would love You but I can accept Your love.
Let Your love drop into my heart just now. Lord, I cannot serve You as
I would but I adore You because You do become my Servant and wash my
feet as You did your disciples. Lord, I cannot bring You coals of fire
out of my chilly heart. But here is my heart, come and cast the coals
of fire of Your own Divine love into it!

my Brethren, come and receive! Come and RECEIVE! I think this is a very
sweet intimation to those of you who feel as if you had nothing to come
with. You do not need to come with anything except your hunger and
thirst. A man that is invited to a meal need not say, "Oh but I have no
bread." You are asked to a royal feast and you need not bring bread
with you. He that invites you to His table will provide you with all
you want. And when you desire to remember Him, your surest and best
plan is to enjoy the good things which He sets before you. I have thus
shown how suitable the ordinance is to help our memories.

III. Now, lastly, THE OBJECT FOR WHICH WE ARE TO COME, NAMELY, TO
REMEMBER CHRIST, IS ONE

WHICH IS IN ITSELF MOST INVITING. Let me show you what I mean. There is
one here who cries, "I have forgotten my Savior. I did love Him. I hope
my love has not quite gone but I seem to be very cold. Alas, I have
forgotten my Lord."

Where should you go to have that love revived and refreshed? Should you
not come where you will be helped to remember Him? He says, "This do in
remembrance of Me." You say that you have forgotten your Lord. Come and
remember Him again. Do not stay away but come with all the more
eagerness. Remember Him as you did at first–when you came laden with
guilt and full of fears–and when you just cast yourself upon your Lord
and found peace. Come and rest in Him again.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, you that are afraid that your first
profession was a mistake–come and begin again at the table. We have
got into midsummer and the plants put out the midsummer shoot–you
know–I want you to put out new shoots also. What? Do you say that it
is long since you thought of growing? It is time to think of it again.
If the spring shoot seems to have grown old, now is the time for a
midsummer shoot–for a new beginning. Begin with Christ all over again.
Repent and do your first work. "This do in remembrance of Me." Does not
that exactly suit you who fear that you have for a while forgotten Him?

"Oh but I feel so weak." Yes but when a little child is very weak,
there is still one thing which it can surely do–it can remember its
mother. Memory is often quickened by our need–it is well when our
sense of weakness makes us remember where our great strength lies.
Remember, then, the Lord who is your strength and your song–for He
also has become your salvation. Now, you poor little weak ones, where
are you tonight? How gladly would I help you. But what better help can
you desire than that which your Lord sets before you in these dear
memorials of His death!

1 know that some of you have been cruelly pushed about of late. The
strong ones have said sharp things to you. Your Lord invites you to a
cheering exercise which shall help you to forget the poor behavior of
the proud. Poor, timid, trembling, half-believing, half-doubting One,
and yet truly the Lord's–come to the table, come to remember your
loving Redeemer! It is painful to remember yourself but it will be
sweet to remember Him. "Oh," you say, "I cannot forget Him." I am glad
you cannot. Still, come here and indulge your memory tonight and say–

"Gethsemane, can I forget, Or there Your conflict see, Your agony and
bloody sweat, And not remember You? When to the Cross I turn my eyes,
And rest on Calvary,

Lamb of God, my Sacrifice,

1 must remember You."

There is one more thing I am going to say and I feel half ashamed to
say it. Some professedly Christian people urge that they cannot come to
the table because there are certain persons there who, in their
judgment, should not be allowed to come. Is the Lord's Table to be a
judgment seat, where we are to revise the verdict of the Church? "I
cannot," said one to me, "join a Church, because I cannot find one that
is perfect." No, I said and if you do not join a Church till you do
find a perfect one, you must wait till you get to Heaven. And, besides,
my dear Friend, if you ever find a perfect Church they will not take
you in. For I am sure they would not be perfect any longer if they did.
One sickly sheep would then have passed into the fold. So it is idle
for you to be looking out for perfection.

"But there is a person at communion who acted inconsistently." That is
highly probable. And he may be wearing your coat and looking out of
your eyes. If you know of any case of open sin, let the elders of the
Church be informed and it will be dealt with tenderly and firmly. In so
large a Church as this there may be cases of evil living not known to
the

overseers of the flock. But we invite the co-operation of all in
maintaining the purity of the entire body and we trust that we have it.
But now, really, what have you to do with the faults of others when you
are remembering Christ Jesus?

Surely this is the most unseasonable time for harsh judgments, or
indeed for any judgments. I know many a Brother with whom I could not
agree in certain points but I agree with him in remembering the Lord
Jesus. I could not work with him in all things. But if he wants to
remember Jesus, I am sure I will join him in that. It will do him good
and it will do me good, to think of Jesus. That dear name is so sweet
to me that I will remember Jesus with the poorest, meanest and most
imperfect of mortals.

I am never happier than when I am in your midst, my beloved
Brethren–and we all sit around the table, because I think of all the
Lord has done for you and for me. Why, it is not worth while going to
Heaven alone. A little lost child sits down on the doorstep of a West
end mansion and cries because it is so lonely–is that to be our
position in Heaven? Are we to take no friends there with us? Who wants
to be solitary in the New Jerusalem? But oh, to come with all of you to
the table and to look into the faces of all God's people and to believe
that the Lord Jesus Christ is in each one of them!

They are a poor lot, full of mistakes, full of errors, full of
infirmities, just like their minister. But the Lord has loved them and
bought them with His blood. A precious Christ He is–not only to have
saved me but tens of thousands of His saints everywhere. For there are
people of His in all Churches, even in the Churches that are most full
of error. He has redeemed, by His precious blood, His own elect in the
midst of them all. Why, the sight of you helps me to recollect Jesus
and to get a better idea of Him–both your Christ and my Christ! And
not our Christ alone but the Christ of all the myriads redeemed by His
blood.

Shall I then set myself up for a judge and say, "No, I will not
remember my Lord because one of the Brethren does not behave properly"?
What would you say to your child if he said, "Father, I shall not come
to see you on your birthday. I shall not join with the rest of the
family in the usual festival"? Why not? "Because my brother is not what
he ought to be. And till he mends his ways, I shall not keep your
birthday." Your father would say, "My dear son, is that any reason why
you should not remember me? Surely I am not to blame for what your
brother does. Come to the feast and think

of me."

So do I say to you if you have any personal angers and differences–do
not smother them but end them. Do not come to the table till you have
got rid of them, for you have no right to come. But end all wrath at
once. Get rid of every ugly feeling you have towards everybody in the
world and love all Believers in Christ for Christ's sake. Then come to
this table and you will find it will help you to remember your Master
as you shall join with others who remember Him. I think I may say that
you will not be likely to see anybody at the table worse than yourself.
So come along and let not pride keep you back. May God's infinite mercy
bless the Lord's Supper to the Lord's people!

And as for those that cannot come and remember Him because they do not
know Him, may they, this night, go home and seek Him. And if they seek
Him, He will reveal Himself to them. If you desire Christ, Christ
desires you. If you have a spark of love to Him, He has a furnace full
of love to you. And if you want to come to Him and trust Him to save
you, come and welcome. The Lord bless you, for His name's sake! Amen.