My beloved friend,
When we come to the exposition of the Lord's Supper as given in the first epistle to the Corinthians, we find much additional light poured upon it by the inspired apostle. Had we merely the record of the institution, as given in the Gospels, or of the celebration, as given in the Acts, we should have a very imperfect apprehension of its deep and wondrous significance.
True it is—and this is most precious to the heart—if we had only the gospel narratives, we should have what is of infinite value to every true lover of Christ. In those priceless records, we have Himself and His precious sacrifice set before our hearts, in the most vivid and touching manner. We hear our adorable Lord and Savior saying to us, as He hands us the bread, " Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you." And again, as He hands us the cup, " This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you," And, further, we have those most affecting, soul-stirring words, " This do in remembrance of me."
All this is of the deepest possible interest to the true Christian. A person may be ignorant of the truth communicated by the risen and glorified Christ to His servant Paul, and unfolded by the latter, in the power of the Holy Ghost, for the guidance of the church in all ages; but, notwithstanding this, he can taste the divine sweetness of that feast which brings his Lord before him, in all the depth, tenderness, and reality of His love- a love which was stronger than death, which many waters could not quench—a love which led Him down to the dust of death for us. Blessed be God, it is not a question of intelligence but of true affection for the Person of Christ. And I doubt not that thousands of precious souls, throughout Christendom, receive the Lord's Supper in connection with a vast amount of error and darkness; but they are not occupied with the error; it may be they have never thought of it—never searched the scriptures in reference to the subject at all. They have just the one thought before their minds; they remember their Lord, and feed upon the precious mystery of His death.
I confess, dear friend, it is an immense relief to the heart to think of such, when one looks forth upon the present dark and confused state of the professing church. The Lord has His hidden loved ones everywhere; and wherever there is a heart that beats true to Christ, that heart will enjoy the Lord's Supper, even though surrounded by a quantity of things which have no foundation whatever in holy scripture.
But then, while we fully admit all this—and you and I joyfully admit and would ever remember it—we should nevertheless, earnestly and lovingly seek to instruct the beloved lambs and sheep of our Lord's flock, and to lead them into the knowledge of their true place and portion in Christ. And it seems to me, dearest A., that the laxity, the error, the confusion, the darkness, and indifference so painfully manifest, on all sides, in reference to the Lord's Supper, affords a sad but most powerful demonstration of the way in which both the Person and word of Christ are flung aside; for I cannot but believe that, Were His blessed Person more the object before the hearts of His people, and if His word had its proper authority over their consciences, His table would have its right place in their thoughts and in their practice.
However, I must ask you to turn with me to the first epistle to the Corinthians, in which we have the exposition of the table and the supper of our Lord. You have, doubtless, remarked, in your study of chapter x., that the cup is noticed before the bread. This may be owing to the moral condition of the assembly at Corinth which was such that the apostle felt it needful to depart from the usual order of the feast, in order to bring into special prominence before the heart that cup which sets forth the precious blood of Christ—the divine and everlasting basis of our peace and blessing—the most powerful moral lever which could possibly be brought to bear upon the spiritual condition of the church. The Corinthians needed a word of warning to '' flee from idolatry;" and how could such a word be more powerfully enforced than by bringing before their hearts the mighty moral mystery of the blood-shedding of Christ by which alone they were brought, as purged worshippers, into the presence of the one living and true God. We can see, at a glance, that the fact of presenting the cup out of its usual order gives it a special emphasis; and the reason for such emphasis is found in the spiritual state of the people addressed.
I shall now quote the passage at length.
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The loaf [αρτος] which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? Because we the many are one loaf, one body, for we all partake of that one loaf."
This, my much-loved friend, you will feel to be a most powerful passage. It gives, as you will perceive, peculiar prominence to the truth of the one body. I, of course, take it for granted that you agree with your correspondent in judging that the word " body" in chapter x. refers to Christ's body the church; as the word " body" in chapter 11 refers to the body of our Lord—His own literal body given for us, and bruised on the cursed tree as an offering and an atonement for our souls. The " one loaf," laid on the table, symbolizes the unity of the church. The "loaf" broken and eaten in the Supper, symbolizes the body of our Lord in the which He bare our sins (not 'up to, but) on the cross.
Now, some may feel led to ask, " How is it that we have nothing in the Gospels, or in the Acts, in reference to this truth of the one body?" Simply because the time had not come and things were not ripe for the unfolding of this great mystery. In what have been called the three synoptical Gospels, as well as in the Acts, the testimony to Israel is maintained. God is seen lingering, in long-suffering mercy, over the blinded nation, if haply they would repent and turn to Him. In the Gospels we have the testimony of the Baptist and of our Lord Himself—righteousness and grace. In the Acts, we have the testimony of the Holy Ghost; and then the special mission of the apostle Paul which closes, as to Israel, in the very last chapter, where he shuts the nation up under the judicial sentence uttered, centuries before by the prophet Isaiah.
Thus, we have a marvelous chain of testimony to Israel—John the Baptist—the Messiah—the Holy Ghost- the twelve apostles—the apostle Paul—all rejected, and the nation, as a consequence, given up, for the present—let it not be forgotten, only for a season, only in part—to judicial blindness.
All this, my beloved friend, is perfectly familiar to you. We have often gone over the ground together. But I refer to it now simply to show that, pending the testimony to the nation of Israel, it was not possible that the truth about the one body could be unfolded. But in the ministry of the apostle Paul, we have not only a testimony to Israel, but also the unfolding of the glorious mystery of the church, composed of Jew and Gentile, baptized by one Spirit into one body, associated with the glorified Head at the right hand of God. This is the mystery which was " hid in Gad, from the beginning of the world "—" not made known, in other ages, to the sons of men"—" kept secret since the world began."
There was absolutely nothing known of the truth of the church until it was revealed to the apostle Paul, and by him unfolded in his epistles. It can be of no possible use for anyone to deny this, or to maintain that the truth of the one body was always known to the people of God; and that the saints of Old Testament times and those of the New are all on one common ground. The word of God is against them. The passages I have just quoted from Rom. 16 and Eph. 3 prove, beyond all question, that the truth of the one body, composed of Jew and Gentile, was " hid in God"—not hid in Old Testament scriptures; but hid in God, for most assuredly, whatever is contained in the scriptures is no longer hidden but revealed.
But I shall not pursue this line any further, as it would draw me away from my more immediate object, just now. I merely add that, as regards the strong opposition shown, in certain. quarters, to the special place and portion of the church of God—the body of Christ, I have found it to be, in very many cases, the sad result of worldliness, prejudice, false theology, and lack of child-like subjection to the authority of holy scripture. Any one, who simply bows to the word of God, must see that the grand doctrine of the church—its special place, portion, and prospect—was never made known to any mortal until the days of the apostle Paul. And it seems to me, dearest A., to be time and labor lost to argue on the subject with anyone who does not submit his whole moral being to the divine authority of scripture. A man who will not yield to the plain statements of the word of God, is not likely to be convinced by the arguments of a man.
However, thanks and praise to our most gracious Lord, we now know and believe the precious truth of the one body; and, according to the teaching of 1 Corinthians x., we can never sit down to the table of our Lord without thinking of every member of that body. We cannot gaze on the " one loaf" without having our hearts directed to the blessed Head above and to each and all the beloved members on earth.
I repeat the words, " on earth," and would invite your special attention to them. Not that I imagine, for a moment, that you have any difficulty or question in reference to them; but one finds a good deal of confusion in the minds of Christians as to whether the body is only presented on earth, or partly on earth, and partly in heaven. Scripture plainly teaches that the place of the body is on earth, for there the Holy Ghost is, there the gifts are. From the day of Pentecost until the moment of the rapture, the place of the body is on the earth. Those that have fallen asleep do not, for the present, count of the body. Some are passing away, and others are being incorporated; but the body is on the earth. Just like a regiment of soldiers; for instance, I knew the 17th Lancers, 40 years ago, and I know it still; but there may not be a single man in the regiment now that was in it 40 years ago; still the regiment exists, has the same colors, the same discipline, is subject to the same code of rules, the same military regulations, it is, in short, the self-same regiment though its component parts have changed many times.
I was much struck lately with that expression, in 1 Cor. 12:2727Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. (1 Corinthians 12:27) " Now ye are the body of Christ." An objector might say, " What! can a single assembly of believers be said to be the body?' Are there not saints in Philippi, Colosse, Ephesus, and Thessalonica? How, then, can the Christians at Corinth be designated by such a title?"
The answer is blessedly simple. Each assembly, wherever convened; is the local expression of the whole body; and hence what is true of the whole is true of each local expression. There is no such thing as independency in the New Testament—no such thing as being a member of a church—no such thing as joining a congregation. As a poor christian gipsy once said to some friends of his who said they wished " to join the Brethren." " Ah!" said he, " abut need ye's be talkin' of? Sure, if ye's be converted, all the joinin' is done!"
How blessedly true! and yet how little understood At the time of our conversion, God joined us, by His Spirit, to the one body, and any other joining after that, is clearly a step in the wrong direction, which must be retraced, if we would " keep the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace."
What then is a person to do, when converted? Look about for some scriptural body, church or congregation to join? Nothing of the kind. There really is no such thing within the covers of the Bible. For men to set about forming churches is as unscriptural an assumption as though they were to set about framing a new plan of salvation, or making out a new kind of righteousness. And if it be wrong for men to form churches, it must be wrong for any to join such. in fact, to form the church is God's work and His only. And as none but God can form the church, so none but He can join any one thereto.
But again I say, " What is the young convert to do?" Wait on God. in humility of mind for guidance. Prayerfully search the scriptures, and ask the Lord to lead him to His own table where he can remember Him, according to His own appointment, showing forth His death, and giving practical expression to the truth of the one body. In this way he is sure to be guided aright. "'!'he meek will lie teach his way." And again, " With the lowly is wisdom." But if I am full of myself—full of my own notions—full of prejudice and religious pride- unbroken, unsubdued, untouchable, I shall assuredly be left to follow my own devices. It needs a broken will, a teachable spirit, an eye anointed with heavenly eyesalve to discern, in a day of confusion like the present, the table of the Lord. If I am occupied with myself, or looking at people, comparing Christians here with Christians there, I shall, most surely, be perplexed and bewildered—an unhappy stranger to peace and progress. But, on the other hand, if, in singleness of eye, I look to God for guidance, He will guide me as surely as He has saved me. He will cause me to find my place in His assembly and at His table. He will give me such light and authority from His own word, that I shall have no more doubt as to my being in my right place than I have as to my eternal salvation.
It is impossible, my much loved brother, to shut our eyes to the peculiar difficulties of the day in which we live. I often feel deeply for young converts, and for all who really desire to know the way of truth, but are sadly perplexed by conflicting opinions, and opposing sects and parties. But I am increasingly persuaded of this fact, that if a soul will only wait on the Lord, in self-distrust, and ask Him to point out the way—His own blessed way, He will assuredly do so, according to His own sweet promise, " I will guide thee with mine eye." It is not cleverness, or long-headedness, or intellectual power, or logical skill that will avail in the search after truth. Nay, all these things, if not brought under the sentence of death, will prove so many barriers or stumbling-blocks in our way. "A little child" is the model on which we must be formed for entrance into the kingdom; and we may depend upon it, that, unless we cultivate the spirit of a little child, we shall never be able to thread our way through the intricate labyrinth of Christendom.
Blessed be God, " There is a way which the vultures' eye hath not seen, nor the lion's whelp trodden," and in that way it is our happy privilege to be found. It may, if viewed from nature's stand-point, seem rough, narrow, lonely; but oh! dearest A., as you know, it is a way on which the light of our Father's approving countenance ever shines, and in which the companionship of our Lord Christ is ever enjoyed. "And is not this enough?" I know your answer. But I must close.
Ever, most affectionately yours,
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