Preparation for the Lord’s Supper

by Ch. Hodge

The Lord’s Supper is presented under various aspects in the Scriptures.

I. It is presented primarily as a commemoration of the death of Christ. As the design of his death was the redemption of man, or rather of his people, to commemorate his death is to render public thanksgiving for our redemption. As redemption is deliverance from the power and condemnation of sin, preparation for this thank–offering must include,

1. A sense of sin.

2. A desire to be delivered from it, and a purpose to forsake it.

3. Belief that Christ’s death is available to our deliverance, and trust in it for that purpose.

4. Gratitude and love for so infinite a blessing.

II. It is presented as the seal of the covenant of grace, and as the acknowledgment of our acceptance of that covenant and appropriation of its benefits. Preparation for it in this view implies,

1. A knowledge of the covenant of grace or plan of salvation.

2. An acquiescence in it, or acceptance of it for our own salvation, with all its promises and obligations; and as God therein promises for Christ’s sake to be our God, we therein accept him as our God and portion; and as we promise to be his people, we therein consecrate ourselves to the service and glory of God in Christ.

3. All the sentiments of humility, faith, gratitude and love which such a transaction requires, and when intelligently and, sincerely performed, of necessity excites.

III. It is presented as an act of communion with Christ. The cup which we bless is the communion of his blood; the bread which we break is the communion of his body. That is, in receiving the bread and wine as the memorials of Christ, we receive his body and blood—i.e., their sacrificial and saving virtue—and thus become one with him. We receive and appropriate him as our sacrifice, and as the Saviour of our souls; and he gives himself to us. It is therefore an act of intimate communion. Preparation for the Lord’s Supper in this aspect requires,

1. The intelligent apprehension of the nature and design of the sacrament as the communion of the body and blood of Christ.

2. Faith in it as a means of grace, i.e., as a divinely appointed channel of communicating to us Christ and his benefits.

3. The desire for this great spiritual blessing, a hungering and thirsting after this spiritual meat and drink; and, when at the table, the actual appropriation of the offered blessings to ourselves. This is feeding on him.

4. The humility, gratitude and love again, which those must feel who are thus admitted to the presence of the Lord, and receive from his own hand this spiritual food.

IV. It is presented as an act of communion with our fellow Christians. All who ate of the Jewish altars professed to be Jews, and to regard all other Jews as their brethren. All who frequented the temple of idols were united as joint worshippers of demons. Thus, the apostle says, all who come to the Lord’s table are one body. They are one united company of worshippers of the same Saviour, each united to him as the living head, and therefore united to the others as members of the same body. Preparation for the Lord’s Supper in this aspect requires, of course,

1. The recognition of the fact that all Christians are brethren, and that their intimate union with each other in virtue of their common union with Christ, is signified and professed in coming to the Lord’s table.

2. The exclusion, on the one hand, of all feelings inconsistent with this fellowship of saints, of all malice, envying, bitterness, etc.; and on the other hand, the exercise of the opposite sentiments of love, mutual confidence and consideration, and sympathy.

3. The fixed purpose always to act towards our fellow Christians as towards those to whom we are united by the tenderest, most intimate, and most enduring bonds.

These various aspects of the ordinance of course are consistent, and preparation for it in one form involves preparation for it under all its other aspects. Its essential idea, however, is thanksgiving for redemption, and therefore requires true views of the glory of the Redeemer as the eternal Son of God clothed in our nature, proper sentiments towards him as our divine Saviour, gratitude for his work, and devotion to his service and glory. Any man who sincerely desires to thank the Lord Jesus for his redemption, and who purposes to live in obedience to his commands, is authorized and bound to come to the table of the Lord, and aid in proclaiming and perpetuating the knowledge of his death.