Communion in Christ's Body and Blood

1 Corinthians 10: 16.

“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”

There is no part of the Scriptures, in wMcli we have so much concerning the actual celebration of the Lord’s Supper, as in this letter of Paul to the converts at Corinth. Nor is there any congregation of primitive clays, about which we learn so many details, as this very church. We are admitted to see the good and the evil of their character. The glimpse thus afforded is useful, in correcting that exaggerated estimate which superstition forms, concerning the knowledge and purity of apostolical churches. We see that there were tares among the wheat; and that Corinthian human nature, even under the very chiefest of the apostles, was human nature still. We see that those who sat down at the table of Christ, were no more then, than they are now, unblemished characters. We perceive the society rent by factions, under the several watchwords of Paul, Apollos, Cephas, and even Christ. We observe them going to law, against brethren, before hea then courts; retaining among them voluptuous professors; rashly sitting down at idolatrous banquets; breaking forth into gross indecorum and confusion in assemblies; and almost ready to forsake the apostle, and go after false teachers. But the most painful and mortifying revelation which is made, of their internal condition, relates to their desecration of this holy table. So far had corruption made head among them, that they turned the Lord’s Supper into a common feast, and one was hungry and another drunken (11:21). As if they had had no houses to eat and drink in, they ate and drank to repletion in the house of God, and shamed the poor, to whom nothing was remaining, (v. 23)

Distressing as such facts are, they are nevertheless instructive; for they teach us, that a communion of absolute purity, is not to be found, even in primitive Christianity; and they warn us, to take our standard, not from the practice of the most favored churches, but from the precept of the Lord Jesus.

Knowing the great temptations to which those were subject, who had but lately come out of a licentious Gentilism, and who were still surrounded by the provocatives of that soft, insidious system, embodied in every sensible grace of architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and poetry; knowino: too, the dimness of the bounding line, which in many cases separated Christian liberty from worldly compliance, the apostle Paul enlarges, with earnestness, on the duty of coming out boldly from the world. In respect, for example, to dainties which had been offered to idols, and which it was the fashion of the day to set before guests — he admits 8: 4 that ’ an idol is nothing’ — the image of a non-entity — that the Jove, the Venus, and the Mars, of their statuary, never existed but in the imagination of

236 COMMUNION IN CHRISl’s BODY AND BLOOD.

superstition and art — and that food however consecrated to these chimeras, could, derive from the ceremony no intrinsic pollution. Nevertheless, on a principle of Christian charity, he instructs them not to touch this food, in cases where it mio-ht be construed into a recognition of the false god. 8:9 “Take heed, lest this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak.” He urges on them (c. 10) the high duty of being all for Christ, and of making a broad separation between themselves and the world. And he enforces this by what may be called a sacramental reason, v. 21 “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils; ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.” It is with this precise intention, and with no other, that Paul introduces the words of my text. They are often cited with another meaning; and taken by themselves they carry another; but this is their significa, tion in the apostle’s train of thought. — Look carefully at the opening of this tenth chapter. You wall find him arguing from the Jewish sacraments, which were types of ours; from the Jewish communion in these sacraments, which was a ty23e of our communion; from their sins against this profession, which are figures of our sins; and from their punishment, which prefigured our punishment. These ancients (says he) had their sacraments. Is it baptism? They were all baptized unto Moses, in the cloud and in the sea, hovering over them, sprinkling them, and flowing about them. Is it the sacred table? They did all eat the same syiritual meat (manna) and did all drink the same spiritual drink (the Kock). They sinned and fell, at least twenty-three thousand in one day: they were destroyed of serpents. You are yourselves liable to temptation. It is the human lot. V. 13 It is ‘common to man.’ Your present temptation is the surrounding idolatry of licentious Corinth — (it was the Paris of ancient luxury). You are prompted by every social feeling, by every lingering habit, by the seductions of sense and the blandishments of taste, to go into communion with the Gentile world. I warn you against such fellowship, and I warn you by all the sacredness of that other,

238 COMMUNION IN OHEIST’s BODY AND BLOOD.

higher fellowship, in which you are embraced. I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?’ — Such is the process of thought by which the apostle is led to the words on which we meditate; and it affords the just clew to their meaning and their application. Let us enter upon this inquiry. The cases are few, in which any single word in one language, precisely answers to any single word in another language: of this none are so well convinced as accomplished philologists. Between an ancient and a modern tongue, the discrepance must of necessity be more wide. The remark applies to the word communion in the text. It includes the idea of participation, of fellowship, of joint-reception. The “communion of the blood of Christ,” is the joint, or common partaking of the blood of Christ. The “communion of the body of Christ,” is the joint partaking of the ’ body of Christ. If but a single soul were the recipient of salvation, there- is a sense in which he might be said to have communion with Christ’s body; and this sense is included; but more is included, namely, that he partakes in common with many others, (v. 2, 3) The Israelites ’ were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea.’ And, just after our text, ‘’for we, being many are one loaf, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one loaf.” As many grains of wheat ground and kneaded and compacted, form the unity of a single loaf of bread... thus many believers, joined to Christ, and joined to each other, form one corporate structure of Christian community. The two leading thoughts are therefore, that believers have communion or participation or fello’ship, with Christ; and that, in this, they have fellowship with one another. And this is set forth, by vivid emblem, in the one loaf of the sacrament, and the one cup of blessinof.

When the simple article of bjead, is disclosed to view, upon the Lord’s table, it is meant to be an object of the senses, and should be carefully regarded. It is eminently suggestive of the idea of participation. It must be partaken of, or it is nothing. It is bread — the simplest and most universal means of human nourishment; and thus the basis of human strength and even life. You need not be instructed, whom it denotes. ‘’The bread of God!” — “The bread of God is he who Cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” The spiritual sustenance and nutriment of all who truly live. Let us cry (more understandingly than those Jews) ‘Lord, evermore give us this bread!’ — Hear the Lord’s reply: ‘I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me (a description of faith) shall never hunger; and he that belie veth on me (faith itself) shall never thirst.’ — Here is participation. The bread is partaken of: and how it is partaken of, is equally clear; it is by coming to him — that is, by believing on him. As it is by eating bread, and in no other way, that we gain any advantage from it; so it is by coming to Christ — by believing on Christ — that we derive his spiritual life. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, lie that belie veth on me hath everlasting life; I am that bread of life. This is the bread

COMMUNION IN CnRIST’S BODY AND BLOUl). 241

wliicli cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living l)read which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread which I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” This brinos us to the very heart of the subject. The bread signifies the dying Kedeemer. This is my body, broken for you. This gives meaning to the breaking of the bread: that sacred body was broken; broken by years of anticij)ative dying — broken in the anguish of the garden; broken by the buffetings of the soldiery and the mob — broken by the Roman scourge, the thongs, the thorns — broken by the hammer, nails and spear — broken on the accursed tree — broken by the awful, unseen, insupportable, almighty, hand of punitive Justice. The loaf is therefore broken; and as we are to partake of it — and as we have seen that participation is by ‘comingV by ’ believing’ — it follows that this faith must have special reference to the expiatory character of him to whom we come: the bread which I give is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world;’ Christ’s body, wliicli lie lajd upon the altar as a sacrifice. In looking at the broken bread, we look at Jesus Christ, as the oblation for our sins.

But the emblem is twofold: and we arrive at the same point by this other path. ‘The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?’ It is the cup of blessing — instituted by him whose every word was a benediction. ‘He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them.’ Subordinate ministers, in like manner, give thanks and implore a blessing. It is already almost blood to the sight: it is his “blood of the New Covenant, shed for many for the remission of sins.” It is the blood from which comes our pardon. We are thus brought back asrain to the lamb of God, the victim of oblation, and the object of faith. It is matter of joint-participation, and is received l)y believing, and by every partaker who believes. ‘Drink ye all of it.’ This reception is the communion of the blood of Christ. Whether then we rcirard the loaf broken, or the wine shed forth, we see before us, the altar, the sacrifice, and the co:lrMuxioN^ ix chr.st’s body and blood. 24:^

priest; and learn the method in which Faith participates in the nourishment and the life. Thus we need no longer say with the Jews, ‘How can this man give as his flesh to eat?’ nor be astounded when we hear the Master’s words: ‘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.” JN’or need we ask for any corporeal presence of the flesh and blood of our Redeemer; especially as it was in explanation of this very saying that our Lord’s words were uttered (John 6: 63) ‘It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life: but there are some of you that believe not.’ It is by believing the words of Christ, that we have communion with him in his body and blood.

Every mode of outward partaking involves this idea; that what we partake is made our own. This is not to be overlooked in the emblem. He who spiritually eats and drinks, in Christ’s house, and who thus comes to him, does thereby receive

Christ. To as many as received him, to them gave he authority to become sons of God, even to them which believe on his name. That is, faith receives. Faith makes Christ ours. Every single metaphor or emblem fails, and therefore a diversity must be used. Faith runs and flies to him — looks to him — acknowledges him — embraces him — is wedded to him — leans on him — is joined to him. Every way, and under every varied image, there is participation — communion — Christ is made over to the believer; and if the faith is strong, he can exclaim, Christ is mine! — But this expression has a meaning, after which we should seek. How and in what res23ect, is Christ given to the believer? Not in his incarnation-body, which some hold; as if, by recej)tion and manducation (such is the phrase) the proper and literal body, under the form and accidents of a wafer, were taken and assimilated. No “the flesh jDrofiteth nothing;” and that hallowed body, “the heavens have received, until the time of the restitution of all things.” Not in his personality. Divine and human, as if we w(^re transformed into other beings. Not

COMMUNION IN” CHKIST^S BODY AND BLOOD. 2-15

by any miracle connected with sacramental acts, as if they could, by the mere participation convey grace. But by the appropriation which ftiith makes, of that in Christ, which is set before ns in this ordinance, and sealed to ns by the Holy Spirit. He is the Lord our Righteousness: and in this character he is received. Faith looks upon, accredits, and reyoses in, his satisfactory obedience and atouing death; beholds the law honoured and justice appeased; sees the emptiness of all human merit, human effort and human experience; acquiesces in this way of redemption, by price, power, and infinite favor; and takes God at his word, when he offei’s a gi-atuitous salvation. In thus acting, faith is aided by the sensible image, and regards the elements as tokens from heaven, that the blessings of the covenant are proffered and secured. Thus looking away from self, and from all experience, feeling or qualification within, as conscious that these can never reach the due amount, the believer looks without, to the finished nghteousness of Jesus Christ; saying in silence, perliaj)S in the very moraent of partaking, ‘This righteousness, thus freely offered, I a wretched, condemned, helpless, unclean, sinner, do here take as mine, simply and solely because God, who cannot lie, declares that he gives it to me in the gosyel. That broken body and shed blood were broken and shed for the remission of sin; and of this, these emblems, which I taste and handle, are the evidences. The offer is to every one who will come: Lord I come; it is all I can; receive me in the name of thy Son!’ — This is communion, that is participation, of the body and blood of Christ. That is, it is the beoinninfr of the fellowship; but it is not the end. There is an intercourse begun by the weakest and earliest faith, which is kept up, and carried to higher and more tender connexion, as light beams more strongly. You have but moistened your lips at the springing fountain. The crag that was smitten at Iloreb did not more largely satisfy the thirsty multitude, than the stream of grace from our Redeemer’s opened side revives the heart of the contrite ones. They drink of the spiritual Rock that follows them, and that rock is Llir’u t. “If any man believe in me, from within him shall flow rivers of living waters.” These wells of salvation irrigate the desert, and mark all the stages of the way. Various are the times and occasions ujDon which disciples have this communion with Christ. Over the opened Bible, where he is the glory of both testaments; on their knees — when they look up into his face of brotherly comj)assion; in the circle of praying brethren, which they do not learn to neglect until they have begun to hew other cisterns; in the honored sanctuary; and above all at the table of their Master; they hear his voice, saying “Eat O friends! drink, yea drink abundantly, O beloved!” They go from strength to strength, every one appeareth before God in Zion. Sometimes the chief fruits of Christian communion are late in life and winter is made to show the blossoms of spring. So that the barrenness, unfaithfulness, and coldness of early profession give place to the high experience of advanced stages of the divine life. This progress is however of the same nature, greatly changing in degree and in enjoyment. Partaking of Christ as his righteousness, the most fearful and doubting disciple, is henceforth entitled to full remission, and to all the benefits of the Lord’s death. Such is therefore the first leading thought of the text, namely, that believers have communion, or participation, or fellowship, with Christ.

II.

The second is like unto it; that they have fellowship with one another: ^’the communion of the body of Christ; the communion of the blood of Christ.” It was to the body of disciples, that he said. Take, eat — Drink ye all of it. Here is the idea of number. It is shed for many — for the remission of sins. As in our j)rayer, we feel ourselves amidst numbers, saying Our Father, which art in heaven; so in our sacrament, we feel the yress of surrounding brethren, and say. Our Lord. The truth is embodied in the very emblem “For we being many are one loaf; for we are all jDartakers of that one loaf” It is impossible for men to be delivered from a common danger, without some common interest as the result. There is no tie more certain, than that of having suffered together. But there are other reasons for this union; the chief reason l)eing the object to which each one is drawn. There is a common point of attraction. Let a multitude of atoms be drawn from the circumference towards the centre, and they are thereby drawn nearer to one another. You need not be told what is the common centre of the Christian world. To that radiant point all are pressing, by a holy and irresistible impulsion. As when some patriot-leader, beloved by those whom he has delivered, when he appears among them, is the one object of ten thousand eyes; and as the throng gathers inward and is concentered on his single person; compelled to be near one another that they may be more near to him — so the scattered members of the flock of the redeemed, as they urge their way, individually, towards the Chief among ten thousands, find themselves in the same proportion drawn side by side. From different climates, ages, nations, races, and religions, they fly to this centre, as clouds and as doves to their windows. Here is the rallying-point, The root of Jesse stands “as an ensign of the people”

Other distinctions are lost in this communion:” There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ JesusP

Intense love of one and the same object must needs compact men together It is true of the enthusiastic soldiers of a great commander. It is true of the ardent partizans of a political chief. Strangers be fore, they feel themselves clustering around a common banner, and heart responds to heart. O how sad, that the counterpart of this is so hard to find, in the Christian band! What must it not prove, respecting the deoTce of our common attachment to the Head! Yet it undoubtedly exists, exactly in proportion to the love of the Mas ter. If we love Him, we shall love one another also.

But I apprehend in this communion a more special and distinct reference to the very thing set forth in the sacramental emblem; it is the communion of the body and the blood which save us. Our fellowship is cemented by the atoning righteousness, in Tlhich all alike acquiesce as their own. This righteousness is one and indivisible, yet is it wholly made over and sealed, to each individual believer, as truly as if the cross bad been erected for him alone. Just as we are forced to believe, of the Divine Omnipresence, that God is present in every point of universal space, and yet (far from being divided) is fully and wholly and divinely present to each alike; so the glorious righteousness of Christ, is available, in all its length and breadth and depth and height to each believer, even the humblest and the most unworthy. One Sun lights the universe. This unity in the object of faith, is uniting in its tenderness, and produces communion, in regard to the very means of redemption. All have come out of ruin. All were sinners. All were convicts. All are set free. All are adopted as sons. All have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. All eat the same spiritual meat, all drink the same spiritual drink. All are encircling the same bloody tree — sitting at the same table — eating of the same bread — drinking of the same cup. “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself in Christ Jesus,” The very operation, therefore, of faith, in one common propitiation, tends to the flow and interchange of new and cordial affections among the brethren. Beyond this, again, there are certain consequences, felt in the renewed soul, as effects of faith in Christ’s body and blood, which ensure communion. As those who eat at the same table and breathe the same air, and drink of the same fountain are subject to the same physical influences — so those who have one faith, one baptism, one God and Father, and one actuating spirit, cannot but be assimilated by this common influence. The truth and unction of the Head passes on to all the members. Various as are the experience and endowments of disciples, they all have one origin; they are all governed by a view of the same bleeding sacrifice. The love of Christ constrains them all. The Spirit of Christ dwells in them all. “There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.” “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” There is a family-likeness in Christ’s house. It is beautifully exemplified, when believers of different churches come together; when disciples from remote climes and continents, in differing languages, compare their hearts; when distant ages are brought near, and we find the same faith, love, fears and joys, in Poly carp or Augustine, and in Luther or Payson. It shall one day be more triumphantly manifested, in the mutual gratulations and common thanksgivings, of the “great multitude which no man can number, out of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, who are to stand before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and with palms in their hands.” All saints, in earth and heaven, by participating in the same sacrifice, are likened to the same model, and rendered members one of another.

To proceed further; if we truly partake in the body and blood of Christ; if our souls feed on him by faith; and if we receive of his Spirit; we shall infallibly be led to brotherly communion by this special influence; to wit, the fruit of the Spirit will be love. Hear how the disciple who lay on Christ’s bosom speaks in one breath of the sacrifice and the love: “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” “Beloved if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” — “He that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen?” It was the badge of early Christianity: “See how these Christians love one another!” It will shine again, on the renewed Christianity of a better age; in which the brother whom we love, shall not be merely the friend of our own circle — the man with a gold ring in goodly apparel — the professor whose social standing shall excite no fears of losing caste among mercenary and heartless worldlings — but the poorest and the feeblest, who bears the lineaments of the Lord Jesus Christ. Such love springs warmly at the

COJLMUNION IN CHRIST’s BODY AND BLOOD. 255

table of true communion, when we know no man after the flesh, but give way to the generous and childlike attachment which belongs to those who are sprinkled with the same blood. — We have thus considered the second particular of the text, that believers have communion with one another.

The jjractical deduction which the apostle makes from these truths is one which should x our attention. If so much is meant by our sacramental profession of union to Christ and his, then are we solemnly bound to live as a separate, a peculiar people, to avoid the world; to respect weak consciences; to remove all stumbling-blocks. It is no sign of love to Christ, whea, with obstinate selfishness, one who is called a brother, pursues his own path, in disregard of the example which he sets his brethren, or the grief he may cause in their hearts. “All things (v. 23) are lawful for me, but all things edify not: let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.” The apostle was more noble, and he was more safe. He urges the obvious principle, that they who adhere to any religion, slioulcl live accordingly. The Israelites “were baptized unto Moses.” The Jews were bound by their sacred vows, v. 18: “Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar V Hence those who sit down with Christ, should not conform to the equivocal customs of the world. Though an idol is but a block, or a stone, or a molten toy — yet “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and the table of devils.” We are sworn at God’s altars. We have taken him as our God, and avowed ourselves to be his people. We are his witnesses. The keen, unsparing eye of the world is upon us. How much is dej)endant on our purity, our courage, and our affection!

Beloved brethren, while we reject the superstitious mystery, and unscriptural terrors, which have been conjured around this ordinance by priestcraft and decejDtion, and which have made it more like a charm or an incantation than a memorial of dying love; we still claim for it a sacredness unlike any on earth. When we come, to2:ether, to eat of this bread and drink of this cup, we do show forth the Lord’s death, till he come. Is it not the communion of the body — of the blood of Christ! If the worshipper who prepared to enter the typical sanctuary must wash his body in pure water — how cautiously, how reverently should we draw near the place where the appointed emblems set forth Christ, evidently crucified in the midst of us! With what holy ex23ectation should we long for the moment, when Jesus himself shall speak to us, not merely in accustomed words, but by sensible representations, Nvhich tell of his very agony and death! If we have often approached with little profit, let us enlarge our desires, and pray for more near and comprehensive and heart-afPecting views of the matchless love. Let us, in humble preparation, make ready a place to receive him. Let us scourge the money-changers out of the temple. Let us bar the door against every enemy and every rival. Let us purge out the leaven of malice and wickedness, and keep the feast with the mdeavened bi’cad of sincerity and truth. Beware of thinking that you have experienced all that religion has to give; of suspecting that for you there are no high attainments in store. Empty the vessel — that it may be replenished with grace. It is lie who says, “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Have we lived to this day, for nothing? Shall we cry, with unbelieving Israel — “Is the Lord among us, or not?” Behold him, in the midst of us, opening the treasure of his promises, and offering the communion of his body. That which is held up in the ordinance, is no other than what we sometimes call the cross. Here, as in a commemorative picture for the view of faith Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world! This is the door tu that communion, which you may, as an individual enjoy with him.

But ye are brethren ‘^ remember therefore your fellowship in grace. Approach as fellow-heirs of the same promise. Pledge to one another, friendship, fidelity, forgiveness, mutual aid, warm affection, in the participation of a common good. Over the ancient sacrifices, there were feasts of good-will, fraternity and joy. This (though no sacrifice) is nevertheless a feast. The cup of blessing, which we bless, and which passes from hand to hand, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ, the token and pledge of joint-interest in that expiatory suffering? The bread which we break, — is it not the communion of the body of Christ — broken and disfigured and tortured even to death, for the sins, not of one, but of all? The heart must turn to ice, before it can reject the melting influence. Rely upon it — our strength and efficiency as a church, will be in the exact proportion of one common interest, and brotherly-attachment. Receive ye one another in the Lord, even as Christ hath first received you. Let not oui* only union be periodical, sacramental, and ceremonial. Let not your love be simply passive, or simply negative. Put forth some active means to brio:hten the chain which binds us. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Love the brotherhood. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. So live, that this principle of communion in a common Head may leave its mark on all the series of your actions

Those with whom we hope to syend eternity in heaven are such as we should seek out here. Those who are worthy of Christ’s felloAVship, are worthy of ours. But if, on the other hand, we be so far infatuated by the glare of temporal distinctions, as to seek our chief commerce with the children of this world, because of their worldly attractions, and count these charms more valuable than the likeness of Christ in his humble followers, let us make up our minds for this inevitable result: Grod will visit us and ours with his frown and his chastisement. Our rewards will be in the communion we have loved. Our branches will wither and show no swellino: clusters. Our houses, thouo’h frequented by the sons of j)leasure, will savour less and less of God. The temper of our families will be taken from the fashion of this world. Our sons will catch the spirit of the unbelieving, and grow up careless if not profane. Our church will dwindle, if not die. — O for the heavenly unction, which shall make the communion of this day, the means of drawing us, first, nearer to the Lord — and then, nearer to one aiiothei! xVmen.