Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 3338
“For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord’s death till He comes.” 1 Corinthians 11:26.
THE center of our holy religion is the Cross. The central thought of the whole of Christianity is Christ and the great point in Christ’s history is His Crucifixion. We preach Christ—but more—we preach Him Crucified! Beloved, this, which is the keystone or the whole arch of our religion, should be more constantly in our minds than it is. It should more frequently occupy our meditations. It should engage more incessantly our tongues—we should sing of it more often, we should pray more in the shadow of it and we should live more under the control of the impulses its suggests. In the Cross of Christ let each one of us glory and, like the Apostle, say, “God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of Jesus Christ our Lord.”
In order to keep in our mind’s eye what, alas, we so easily forget—the death of our blessed Lord—He has been pleased to institute the Supper which we are about to celebrate. Beneath yon fair white linen cloth we have memorials of His passion, full of instruction to those who rightly view them. If any in this place should ask, “What mean you by this service?” our ready answer shall be according as it is written—“For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Cor 11:26). We eat bread and drink wine, not out of any foolish superstition that these can be transmuted into the very flesh and blood of Jesus Christ—a superstition which would be a disgrace to a Bushman—a superstition which is a disgrace to those who hold it in this enlightened land, and not a disgrace only, but a vast sin—a black delusion which is given to them that they may believe a lie—whereby they involve themselves in the doom of Hell! We hold no such folly. Because we are rational and because we are spiritual, both our reason and our spiritual nature revolt against anything so atrocious as to believe that the body of Christ—the absolute flesh and blood—can be eaten and drank, or that if it could be done, it ought to be done, or that it could confer any spiritual benefit upon those who could perform so cannibal and revolting an act! We believe in the real Presence, but not in the corporeal Presence. We believe that Jesus Christ comes to us spiritually and refreshes us, and in that sense we both eat His flesh and drink His blood. But as to any such literal feast as some believe in, we reject the thought with horror and with contempt!
The great meaning of “The Lord’s Supper,” as we call it, is that we show the Lord’s death till He comes. We show it to ourselves and we show it, or represent it, to others—to unbelievers who may chance to look on. The former of these is, perhaps, the more important. In coming to eat of the bread and drink of the wine at this Supper—
I. We Show the Lord’s Death to Ourselves
Not, indeed, that this is the exclusive manner of exhibiting the passion which our dear Savior endured, or the decease which He accomplished, for there are, it must be admitted, other methods of showing the Lord’s death. One is by this Book, this Inspired Volume which contains the record of His Crucifixion—which explains it—which enforces upon men the duty of putting their trust in the merit of Him who died. Wherever this Bible is opened there is a showing of Christ’s death! Why, the whole Book is full of it! There is a crimson line of atoning Sacrifice running from Genesis to Revelation—
“Here I behold my Savor’s face Almost in every page.”
Every distinct Book of Inspiration is like a mirror reflecting the image of Jesus—“as in a glass, darkly,” it is true, but still sufficiently clear even for these dim eyes of ours. All the Scriptures are the swaddling bands of the Child, Christ Je-
sus, as said Augustine of old—If you would see Jesus, you must search for Him in Holy Scripture and, by the light of the Holy Spirit, you will not go far until you find Him!
The Lord Jesus Christ’s death is also shown forth in public ministry. There are some who are so fond of painted windows because, they say, they preach by painting. Brothers and Sisters, we paint by preaching! That is the only difference and to paint by preaching is an infinitely better thing than to preach by painting! All the methods that are adopted to show forth Christ’s death throughout all the world are utter vanity compared with the ministration of the Gospel. It is not possible for the preacher too much to magnify His office. It is God’s predestinated channel of Grace to the sons of men. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”—and as we speak, God helping us—Christ is set forth, manifestly Crucified among you! How many in this place have seen Jesus by what they have heard spoken of Him? The eye of the mind has seen Him. ‘Twere of little use for the eyes of sense to do so. Thousands saw Christ with their natural eyes and perished in their sins! But to see Him with the eyes of the spirit—this it is that saves. The preaching of the Gospel paints Christ to the mind’s eyes, not to the natural eyes, so it is the best way of depicting Him, for it exactly meets the vision that it is intended to impress!