“In Remembrance of Me”
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ever they met together to commemorate His death, they recounted
how “He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying,
Drink ye all of it; for this is My blood of the new testament, which is
shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, 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.” In their tribulation they found
comfort in the hope of their Lord’s return. Unspeakably precious to
them was the thought, “As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this
cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till He come.”
1 Corinthians 11:26
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These are the things we are never to forget. The love of Jesus, with
its constraining power, is to be kept fresh in our memory. Christ has
instituted this service that it may speak to our senses of the love of
God that has been expressed in our behalf. There can be no union
between our souls and God except through Christ. The union and love
between brother and brother must be cemented and rendered eternal
by the love of Jesus. And nothing less than the death of Christ could
make His love efficacious for us. It is only because of His death that
we can look with joy to His second coming. His sacrifice is the center
of our hope. Upon this we must fix our faith.
The ordinances that point to our Lord’s humiliation and suffering
are regarded too much as a form. They were instituted for a purpose.
Our senses need to be quickened to lay hold of the mystery of godliness.
It is the privilege of all to comprehend, far more than we do, the
expiatory sufferings of Christ. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness,” even so has the Son of man been lifted up, “that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
John 3:14, 15
. To the cross of Calvary, bearing a dying Saviour, we
must look. Our eternal interests demand that we show faith in Christ.
Our Lord has said, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man,
and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.... For My flesh is meat
indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.”
John 6:53-55
. This is true of
our physical nature. To the death of Christ we owe even this earthly
life. The bread we eat is the purchase of His broken body. The water
we drink is bought by His spilled blood. Never one, saint or sinner, eats
his daily food, but he is nourished by the body and the blood of Christ.
The cross of Calvary is stamped on every loaf. It is reflected in every
water spring. All this Christ has taught in appointing the emblems of
His great sacrifice. The light shining from that Communion service