Chapter 53—The Lord’s Supper
The symbols of the Lord’s house are simple and plainly understood,
and the truths represented by them are of the deepest significance to
us
Christ was standing at the point of transition between two
economies and their two great festivals. He, the spotless Lamb of
God, was about to present Himself as a sin offering, that He would
thus bring to an end the system of types and ceremonies that for four
thousand years had pointed to His death. As He ate the Passover with
His disciples, He instituted in its place the service that was to be the
memorial of His great sacrifice. The national festival of the Jews was
to pass away forever. The service which Christ established was to be
observed by His followers in all lands and through all ages.
The Passover was ordained as a commemoration of the deliverance
of Israel from Egyptian bondage. God had directed that, year by year,
as the children should ask the meaning of this ordinance, the history
should be repeated. Thus the wonderful deliverance was to be kept
fresh in the minds of all. The ordinance of the Lord’s Supper was
given to commemorate the great deliverance wrought out as the result
of the death of Christ. Till He shall come the second time in power
and glory, this ordinance is to be celebrated. It is the means by which
His great work for us is to be kept fresh in our minds.
Christ’s example forbids exclusiveness at the Lord’s Supper. It
is true that open sin excludes the guilty. This the Holy Spirit plainly
teaches.
1 Corinthians 5:11
. But beyond this none are to pass judgment.
God has not left it with men to say who shall present themselves on
these occasions. For who can read the heart? Who can distinguish the
tares from the wheat? “Let a man examine himself, and so let him
eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.” For “whosoever shall eat this
bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the
body and blood of the Lord.” “He that eateth and drinketh unworthily,
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