It is the blessed habit of the saints to
\nespecially remember our Lord at His own instituted remembrance feast. This
\nought to be our hearty resolve each Lord’s Day. Nothing should be allowed to
\ndisturb these moments of quiet and sacred remembrance. Then let us put aside
\nall worldly care, and all daily business, and all the griefs and sorrows of our
\nearthly pilgrimage, gathering to Him and with His saints in this feast of love.
\n({{1 Cor 10:17}})<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Celebrants of the Past<\/strong> \nMany of these dear ones of ages past commemorated His sufferings and death at \nThere was a good deal of zeal, warmth, and fervency in their devotion. Their The Celebrants in Our Own Land<\/strong> So we heartily rejoice that missionaries came and preached It is cause for praise that there are so many today, though \nThe Celebrants in Other Lands<\/strong> Thus we are part of a great family of believers, “a There is an inseparable connection between our growth and There, too, we should see to it that, in coming, there
\nIt is pleasing to remember how many of all
\nages in the Christian Church have celebrated the remembrance feast and the
\nsufferings and death of the Saviour in this, His appointed way. It has never
\nbeen a crowded table; but it has never been a forsaken one. Many are now in
\nheaven who were constant at His supper on earth, but now feast with Him in the
\nbanqueting halls of glory.<\/p>\n
\nthe risk of their lives. The mountaintops were not too cold; the moors and
\nglens not too isolated; the caves of the wilderness not too damp and drear for
\nthose noble souls who loved their Lord. They testified their devotion to Him at
\nall hazards and under every hardship. They sat where the Belshazzars and
\nCaesars of this world never sat, nor ever shall.<\/p>\n
\nexcellent example stirs and excites our own love as we remember them. We cannot
\nhelp but admire these saints of past days who cleaved to the Lord through
\ngrace, and with great purpose of heart kept the feast. They recognized His
\nrighteousness for their justification, His fullness for their every need, and
\nHis blood for their pardon and cleansing. They would not forget and therefore
\nwere resolved to keep the feast.<\/p>\n
\nIt is pleasing to remember, too, that
\nthere are many believers in our own land who come to this appointed ordinance.
\nWe who are of British stock have ancestors who once sat at “the
\ntable of devils<\/em>,” as in the case of the
\nDruids. We read our history, and bow in shame as we read, that at one time our
\nancestors offered up human sacrifices, very popular in Britain at one time.<\/p>\n
\nthe gospel of God’s saving grace so that converts among our forefathers set up
\nthe Lord’s remembrance feast and spread the sacred elements in our land. Such
\ndates are unknown; such places are unmarked; but the sweet influence of their
\nfaith and love has done its wonders and left behind a testimony of incalculable
\nvalue among our people.<\/p>\n
\nfew compared to the vast number of unbelievers, who count a day in His courts
\nbetter than a thousand elsewhere, and delight to remember their Lord. They
\nneither creep there by stealth, nor steal up, like Nicodemus, by night, but do
\nso openly and publicly, and count it their joy and delight to thus meet the
\nLord at the remembrance table.<\/p>\n
\nIt is also pleasing to remember that our
\nLord’s sacrificial love in His death is remembered on all continents and in
\npractically all countries—in the great lands of China, Africa, India, and,
\nmaybe with the exception of a few Islamic lands, in all other places of the
\nearth. I myself have been present at a thousand such gatherings in many lands,
\nfrom the most southerly assembly in the world to almost the most northerly;
\nfrom the most easterly in New Zealand
\nto the most westerly in the Americas.
\nStill they multiply, and the voice of adoring worship and praise never ceases
\nin the earth.<\/p>\n
\nmultitude which no man can number<\/em>,” though
\nwe may meet in small local fellowships. These small groups, if they but thought
\nof themselves, could easily feel discouraged or sad. But it is not so. The Lord
\nis present in their midst, and they know they are loved by Him, that they are
\nthe gift of the Father to Him, that they are a possession purchased by His own
\nblood. They are morsels together of the one great loaf.<\/p>\n
\nincrease in love and appreciation for the Saviour and the observance of this
\nremembrance feast. Alas, we think of some who have grown cold in spiritual
\naffections because of the neglect of it. There is nowhere else where we can be
\nbetter established than in being engrossed and absorbed in remembering the love
\nof Christ in His sacrifice for us.<\/p>\n
\nis tender love for all the Lord’s people. There should be no discord among the
\nsaints of God. It is a corporate fellowship of all who are saved by the Lord,
\nand the loaf on the table testifies of that oneness. We are to exclude none who
\nare born of God and who maintain a godly life. But we are to examine ourselves,
\ntoo. We must put away all that is offensive to our Lord, then come and enjoy
\nthe feast with the Lord and all His redeemed ones.<\/p>\n