THE COMMUNION.

A Sermon preached by Rev. E.K. Love, of Thomasville, Ca., at the celebration of the Lord's Supper, before the Harmony Baptist Church, Augusta, Ca., the Second Sunday in September, 1882. Text:-"This do ye in remembrance of Me."-Luke xxii:19

There is no ordinance which embodies more, and that is more rife with soul stirring and interesting facts, than the Lord's Supper. It is at once the must succinct history of the plan of redemption, and is perfectly replete with the grand and sweet old story of the cross, and of Jesus and His love. It calls upon memory, the daughter of attention, to stretch her wings and with lightening speed waft her way back through 18 centuries to the bleeding cross where the Redeemer suffered, bled and died. This ordinance serves as a reminder. We not only are called upon to keep it as a Christian church, to remember Jesus, but we should keep it as a means of reminding the world of our Saviour. Therefore, this ordinance does not only cheer the Pilgrim on his journey but it appeals most strongly to the unregenerate. To the Christian it is a comforter. To the impenitent it is a preacher. To the righteous, it is joy. To the wicked it is condemnation. The righteous in this ordinance, acknowledge Jesus as their Redeemer, but the sinner looking on, virtually denies Him. It stands, however, as the ever faithful witness to the children of grace, that Jesus has redeemed them. And unto the unconverted, it stands as a witness that they have no life in them. And that they are sick, helpless and ready to die. It is heaven's monument erected in honor of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to consider now, my congregation, the important thoughts 00044suggested by the text. The Saviour on the night before He died, gathered His twelve Disciples around Him, in an upper room, at Jerusalem, and instituted this grand and glorious supper, as the memorial, around which the fondest affections and sweet recollections of the children of faith cling. It is a picture, not as earth's gilded pictures, which facinate only to deceive, but it is a living picture, true and simple. As there are no spots on that Divine personage which it represents, it hides none. It is not painted with the granduer of ancient or modern art, but painted with His own Holy blood, and gilded by a life of usefulness and self denial. It will stand the test of all ages without being defaced, and it will not sustain in the slightest degree any injury. No attempts or vain glorious acts, painted by superstition, skepticism or incredulity will prove salient to its overthrow or extirpation. It is given to the church, and is co-equal with it. It will live with the church, and will live as long as the church lives. And now let us consider.

I. WHAT WE ARE TO REMEMBER IN THIS ORDINANCE.

We will first speak of His mysterious incarnation. It was necessary for Jesus to die as a man to redeem man. God's divine justice called for the life of a man. For man was the transgressor. In order to satisfy divine justice, Jesus took on the form of a man and became man, to redeem man. Being found in fashion as a man, He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. To become an adequate Saviour and High Priest, He had to become incarnated. That is to say, He was God in man, or God plus man. Jesus, mysterious incarnation is not only the wonder of men, but of angels. It is a subject that interests the Christian family for several reasons. First, because it was necessary in order that He might die for us. As He was prior to His incarnation, He was not the right one to die for us. He was not susceptible to death without it. Second, He could not have redeemed us from under the law, unless He was born under the law. He could not have been born under the law without being incarnated. In order to free us from the curse of the law, He must necessarily become human. Third, He 00055must have a human body, in order that He might receive the imprint of human infirmities, that He might present their true nature and condition to His Father. He was in all points tempted as we are, that He might succor them that are tempted. He must have a body that He might be handled by men. For which purpose He become incarnate. We do not claim to understand the incarnation of our Saviour, but from what we do know, we feel confident in saying, that it was absolutely necessary to His vicarious suffering on the tree; and it is well worthy of remembering. If He had not been incarnated the bread could not have represent His body broken for sin, for he would not have had a body to be broken. He said, "My flesh is meet indeed, and not have had a body to be broken. He said, "My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed," which would have been unmeaning, and not at all applicable to an infinite spirit. We are to eat the bread and drink the wine and think on noble good. "This do in remembrance of Me." The text suggests, that this supper is not intended to satiate the carnal appetite. "This Holy bread and wine maintain our fainting breath, by union with our living Lord and interest in His death." We are to celebrate this supper because it teaches us what we cannot learn otherwise. We eat the bread not only because were member the incarnation of Jesus, but for the grander reason that it was broken for us, by which we have eternal life. He said, "If ye not My body and drink not my blood you have no life in you." We eat it not for this only, but for the grandest reason, that He commands us to to eat it. He said, "Take eat. This do in remembrance of Me." These are positive commands, coming from our Federal Head. The command of Jesus is of itself authoritative; no higher motive need actuate us. It is right and law, because He says so. Not that He says a thing because it is right, but that it is right because He says it. In this supper we are to remember,

II. HIS BIRTH AND LIFE.

The Scriptures were literally fulfilled in the birth of the Saviour. He was born at the very place long before spoken of by the prophets. And of the very woman. The angels rejoiced at His birth as well as the children of man. It was 00066indeed, a happy time when heaven and earth again met in the person of Jesus at His birth. By the time He touch the earth, the Golden Chain which bound heaven and earth together and which had been severed by Adam's transgression, was united. Angels and men again met and their interests were again one. They sang to the shepherds the good news that a Saviour was born in Bethlehem, and they gladly repaired to the sacred spot and found it even so. The life of Jesus was a life denial and earnest devotion to the work for which He came. We are to imitate His example which is brought most prominently before us in the eucharist. He did not come to seek His own will, but the will of His Father who sent Him, and He availed Himself of every opportunity which presented itself, to seek the good of those to whom He was sent. The whole life of Jesus is marked with kindness and tenderest love. The supper calls upon us to remember this feature of His life. His love for His people is unspeakable and full of glory. Its depths the angels would rejoice to fathom. Its endless dimensions they would gladly explore. Men would fain ken out its mysteries but they cannot. It is only God's prerogative to know of it. His life and death are the strongest pressage of His wondrous love. His birth and life premised what His death and resurrection consummated. The supper and agony were premonitory of His suffering and death, and His resurrection and ascension foreshadowed grandly the bliss and victory of the church. His life is heaven's pattern given to the children of men. It is suggestive of holy lessons worthy to be studied and practiced from first to last. There is not a mist which obscures its pure benignant rays. We have the life of Jesus as the purest gift of heaven, and is voiced with the benign admonition, "Be ye perfect as your father in heaven is perfect." When we look upon the pictures of our loved ones who are among earth's sleeping millions, nothing brings more vividly before the mind's eye their deeds. So with this picture of Jesus presented in His supper. It brings to our minds Jesus with all of His noble and philanthropic deeds. And by doing this we are enabled to "Discern the Lord in the supper." The object of the supper is often misunderstood in this day as by the church at Corinth. When 00077every man carried his own wine and bread to the church (who was able to do so) and ate as much as he wished, and drank as much as he pleased. Very often many were actually drunk. They converted the supper into a carnal feast. The Apostle told them that he did not praise them for that. He asked them, "Know ye not that when ye come together it is to eat the body and drink the blood of Jesus?" They did it not in remembrance of Jesus, and, therefore, fell short of the blessing vouchsafed to them in the Eucharist. Dear brethren, let us give more attention to the lesson which this holy feast is intended to teach. It is for the soul and is, therefore, intended to act upon the soul. Simple as it is, it satisties the spiritual man and assuages the disturbed breast. At times the satiety which this holy sacrament affords, so transports the soul that cries from its deepest researches "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." He went about doing good. The blind found in Him eyes; the weak found in Him strength. The deaf found in Him ears. The friendless found in Him a friend. The widows found in Him a husband, the fatherless found in him a father, the sinner found in Him a Saviour; the ignorant found in Him a teacher, the sick found in Him a physician. The bruised found in Him the balm of Gilead. The lost found in Him a Redeemer. The dead found in Him life. The church found in him a rock. There was no emergency too trying for the graces with which our Jesus was imbued. There was nothing that earth needed but that it was richly found in Him. There is nothing in the christian's life but that he has laid the pattern. Oh, is it not sweet to remember the Lord's life in the feast!

For if the feast shows a dead Saviour, the opposite is that he once lived. And we generally celebrate the death of persons, because there was something worthy of it in their lives. Therefore consider.

III. We are to remember His suffering and death.

In remembering the suffering and the death of Jesus, it would be very well for us to remember what was accomplished by them. And now let us speak, first, of His unparallelled 00088suffering when he first appeared from under the Golden Alter as a lamb that had been slain, the Angels that looked surprisingly on, could not have devined what the intensity of His suffering would be. They could not have described in the faintest manner, the excruciating pains He must necessarily have to experience during his visit to the earth. They sang--Worthy is the lamb, for He was slain, and hast redeemed us unto God, out of every kindred tongue and people," but their song was comparatively an empty sound. They had not the faintest conception of the pangs of death through which he was to pass. They could not have had. The Evangelical Prophet, moved by the holy God, looked through the telescope of faith and saw Him returning from Edam with His garments all stained with the clay of Edam, and rolled in His own precious blood, asked, "Who is this that cometh from Edam, with dyed garments from Bozrah?" And yet another time, he takes up his glasses, and beholds him brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth," The Angels might well stand wondering while they witnessed the stupendous penance, through which the Saviour passed. Behold Him in the garden contending with the combined powers of darkness. Hear His pitiable cries--"If it be possible that this cup pass from me let it pass. This does not exhibit a desire to shrink from the momentous task, but shows the extreme torture which He was enduring. The drops of sweat, as though they were drops of blood, show the condition of His mind. Mind acts upon the physical man, commensurately as it is operated upon. The agony of the mind is blazed in the appearance of the flesh, and may be judged proportionally taking the ratio of superiority as exists between the two as the key to the problem. Taking into consideration the great mind of the Saviour, and its power to conceal inward grief, and then see the condition of his human body, so excited as to admit of sweat in such lumps as to be mistaken for drops of blood, we gather, at least, a faint idea of his suffering. Well might the weeping prophet take down his harp from the willows and exclaim. "Be ye astonished at this, O ye heavens." Hear the poet as he grapically depicts the sight: "Dark was the night and cold the ground,On which the Lord was laid:His sweat like drops of blood ran down,In agony He prayed."It was a dreadful night. But upon it hung eternal things. The destiny of the world was to be settle on this night. Oh! it was a destiny of the world was to be settled on this night. Oh! It was a memorable night. "'Twas on that dark, doleful night,When powers of earth and hell arose;Against the Son of God's delight,And friends betrayed Him to His foes."He does not sleep during the whole night. The armies of hell are alive to have him put to death. He is carried from place to place, and on the morrow, he was brought before the judge to receive the sentence of death. The emergency becomes too trying for His friends to stand by Him now. They leave Him to ferret out His own way. The Scriptures have declared of Him, "I have trodden the wine press alone, and of the people, there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment." He is delivered into the hands of cruel men to be crucified. He is first whipped until the ground on which he stood is painted with his own innocent blood. He is made to shoulder the cross, and led away to Calvary. On this ever memorable spot, he is nailed to the cross. Oh! my dear congregation, I fancy that I hear the ringing of the hammers and see his pure and holy blood dripping from that despicable cross. He pays the debt in sweat and blood. About the ninth hour, He said, "It is finished," and bowed His head and died. Divine justice, having drank its supply of His precious blood, declared itself satisfied. Jesus died and death could do no more, and the law was honorably satisfied and justice asked no more. He suffered, Oh! He suffered to redeem us from sin and death. What grander monument could heaven have erected in honor of this wondrous achievement? What could be more appropriate to His vicarious suffering than broken bread and wine, pressed from grapes? What could have so adequately told the sweet old story? "This do in remembrance of me." And, dear brethren, may the Lord help us to notice in conclusion.

IV. His resurrection and Ascension.

The Jews hastened to take Jesus down from the cross after His passion and death to bury Him because it was the preparation of the passover. They buried him, but was not content with their own scheme. They petitioned Herod to put his upon the sepulchre and to station guards around to prevent the so called deceiver from rising. Their sinistrous request was granted by the unmanly judge, with the facetious remark, "Make it as secure as you can." They entombed the Blessed Master. They might, it seems, have been satisfied since their so-called enemy was dead and buried. But they are restless. They feared that he was more than a mere man. They remembered what things occurred at his death. The earth. shook, the graves were opened, the dead in the graves awoke. The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the sun was forbidden to shine on this holy man. They feared that He was indeed the Son of God, as He had repeatedly said. He laid in the grave as though his power was gone. He laid in the grave as a man. But on the third day, he got up as a God. The Angels rolled the stone away and the blessed Jesus rose and at his chariot wheels dragged away the power of hell. He brought from hell the key, from death, the sting, and from the grave, the victory. The angels sung the triumph when He rose. The exceeding greatness of the power of God is shown in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. He brought His church the victory written on his thigh, and in the palms of his hands. He had a name written on him. "Lord of Lords, and King of Kings." He well deserved the honored title. He walked among men forty days after his resurrection, evincing the fact that he was really the very Jesus that was crucified, dead and buried, and that he had arisen. "I am he," said he, "that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore." He appeared unto men, about twelve times, and after the lapse of forty days, he ascended into the heavens in the sight of a vast multitude. He spake, and light shone round his head,On a bright cloud, to heaven he rode;They to the farthest nations spread,The grace of their ascended God.

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Oh! my people methink I see the angels crowding the windows of heaven. Every door is filled, the walls are covered with the holy angels. They are looking for Jesus. The news has reached heaven that Jesus is coming. "Bye and Bye," methinks I hear Michael say, "Yonder comes Jesus." He is stained with the clay of Edam. He has in his hands, the keys of hell and death, and then all the angels take their golden harps, and commence to play, victory, victory.

Oh! let us remember that Jesus meant a great deal when he said, "This do in remembrance of me." This sacred feast is not to make Christians, but it is for Christians. They should take it not because Jesus died for the world only but that he is their personal Saviour, and died personally for them, and that they having accepted his death as their death, and his life for their life and that because they have believed on him they have eternal life through His vicarious suffering. The Saviour would have us know that in His atoning blood is our life. It may be said by the angels when they begin to question us when we shall have landed at our home in heaven, "I ask them whence their victory came and whence their joys arise, they ascribe their conquest to the lamb, their triumphs to His death." This hallowed feast, indeed, tells a wondrous story. It has Jesus for its theme. It is not only the grandest monument erected in earth, in honor of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, but it is the grandest monument in heaven; built in commemoration of His suffering and death in earth. He said to His disciples, "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." From this passage I judge that we shall celebrate the supper when we get to heaven, I imagine that when we get there Jesus will invite us to come to the sacramental table, saying, "Come let us celebrate My death and suffering." Then with shouting and hosannas we will repair to the guest chamber, where the great white table is spread and thus with ecstacy celebrate the feast in the mansions over yonder. "Jesus invites His saintsTo meet around His board,Here pardoned rebels sit and holdCommunion with their Lord."

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Oh! dear congregation, we have a significant feast. It points to what our Saviour has done for us. Let us hear Him saying, "This do in remembrance of me." It will not be long before we shall cross the river and rest in the shade when our journey is complete, in the great gathering over yonder. The redeemed army of the Lord shall bask themselves in the sunshine of heavenly peace and love and everlasting joy shall fill their souls, and sweet heaven will be their eternal abode. And lastly, brethren, "This do in remembrance of Me," says your blessed Master. Do not I hear a response going from every regenerate heart in the Divine presence, this morning, "Jesus, Thy feast we celebrate: We show Thy death, we sing Thy name, till Thou return, and we shall eat the marriage supper of the Lamb." Oh! yes, I know that your loving hearts respond. I read it in your countenance. Should not we love Jesus? Is not this supper a picture of His love? Look here! O! my people! upon this emblem before you this morning. What of love that is not told you in it? What has God to give to you which He has not given to you in this supper? Your tears answer me. Now, I feel that we are prepared to adopt the language of the poet as our own. "Let all our powers be joined.His glorious name to raise,Let holy love fill every mind,And every voice be praise."With this let me close by urging you to first, "Examine yourself and then eat." Let nothing prevent you from eating. If you are wrong, get right. "This, do in remembrance of Me. God bless you all for Jesus sake. Amen.