Meditation.

I COR. xi. 24, and 1 COR. x. 16, 17.

"This do in remembrance of Me."

"For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come.

"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? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread."

EMEMBER, my soul, that the Lord, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me, appointed the ordinance which I have

now the opportunity of observing. With good reason ought I always to remember this pledge of His exceeding great love.

It reminds me of pardoning mercy, through the sacrifice of His death, for we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of our sins."

It suggests the privileges of fellowship and communion, to which He graciously admits me-communion with all the members of His redeemed family in heaven and earth; fellowship with Him as our common Lord.

It helps me to see what is meant by appropriation. The body of our Lord Jesus Christ was given for me; His blood was shed for me; I am to eat this bread, I am to drink this cup. Eating and drinking are acts of personal appropriation; no one can do these acts for me. I see in them that personal appropriation of faith which the Holy Spirit of God teaches the people of Christ to exercise in their gracious loving Saviour. May such faith be mine!

I gather, too, from this ordinance that my

gracious Lord expects of me gratitude. He tells me to do this in remembrance of Him. Bodily absent, He is spiritually present with me when I do so. Well may I say in

response,

"Remember Thee, and all Thy pains,
And all Thy love to me;

Yea, while a pulse or breath remains,
I will remember Thee."

Has He not a right to expect of me testimony? I am to show the Lord's death. Whether I read the words as a command, "show," or as stating a fact, "ye do show," they intimate the necessity of public profession. I must not be ashamed to own my Saviour; my conduct must avow that I am doing this because He has commanded it, and because I believe that His death is the source of my spiritual life. He died that I might live in Him.

Nor can I forget the constancy that is required of me. Frequent, not merely occasional, observance is surely implied in the statement "As often as ye eat this bread."

The bread from Heaven, the bread of life, must be the support of my spiritual life. He has told me, He that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me." This ordinance helps me to realise the life of faith.

It does so especially because of the anticipations of hope. I must do this "till He come." I must look to Jesus as a coming Saviour, as well as a dying Saviour. As often as I remember His death, I am to expect, with the lively expectation of hope, His coming again in His promised glory. Nor is this a bare imagination. The Master Himself tells me of the table spread in His kingdom, at which He will cause His servants to sit down, and will Himself come forth and serve them. At the Marriage Supper of the Lamb the whole company of His redeemed children, the many sons whom He has brought to glory, will assemble; each of them clothed in the wedding garment of His righteousness, each of them capable of receiving, and appreciating, and enjoying, and communicating the blessings of His love; and He

permits me to realise the hope that all this will be without weariness, without imperfection, without temptation, without separation from Him, without the possibility of grieving the Holy Spirit of God.

Let me draw near, then, with a true heart, in full assurance of faith; seeking that my strongest affection and my most earnest thoughts may be concentrated upon a dying Saviour, a coming Saviour, a living Saviour, a loving Saviour, and a Saviour whom I may expect to meet in His own ordinance, ready to bestow the blessings of pardon to the penitent; of mercy and strength of faith to the doubtful; of comfort to the sorrowful; of strength to the weak; of hope to the desponding. Blessed be His name, He meets my desire to show forth His death till He come, with His own blessed and assuring word, "That which ye have already, hold fast till I come."