Edward Hoare

“ Now, when we take the bread and wine we express before the world our thankful remembrance of his grace; we declare before men the deep fidelity of our grateful love. We may show our gratitude either by words or actions. This is an action to denote the deep affection of those who live by faith, a visible utterance of their unseen and unceasing gratitude.
(2.) It is a means of spiritual food and sustenance. The soul requires to be fed as well as the body, and without food the one will die quite as quickly as the other, for neither soul nor body has life in itself. ”

“ If we are exposed to great temptation, then we need great strength; and if harassed by the world’s influence, we need the more peculiar help, that we may not be infected by its spirit. The question, therefore, comes to this, Do you intend to abandon yourself to the spirit of the world? If you do, by all means abstain from the communion. But if it is your heart’s desire, in the midst of the world, to walk with God; then neglect no means of seeking him, but in the way of his judgments wait on him, that he may give you grace to overcome, and by his own mighty Spirit set you free from its snares. ”

“ We do not expect to feed in any literal, carnal, or material manner, but we do expect, that while with the body we receive the bread in faith, our souls will receive Christ; and when with the lips we drink the wine, the heart will be made by the Holy Ghost partaker of his blood. Thus, to hungering and thirsting souls, the communion becomes inestimably precious. When we feel our weakness, we rejoice to come before him that we may be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man ”

“ Do not these facts prove clearly that he did not intend his sacrament for advanced believers only? and that none must check the first yearnings after better things? It is milk for babes as well as strong meat for those who are of full age; and by deterring beginners, we may rob them of the portion which God has provided for their growth in grace. If we do not perceive a full knowledge of the Gospel, let us at least rejoice in the desire to do the Saviour’s will; and let us never forget that the desired knowledge is more likely to be gained in obedience than neglect. ”

“ Never, therefore, must that death of Christ be forgotten or disregarded by the Christian; it is our hope, our life, and only source of peace; and that man must have known little of a Saviour’s grace who does not desire to “bind it as a sign upon his hand,” and to let it be “as frontlets between his eyes.” ”

“ Paul do not apply to young and inexperienced believers. There is sometimes a tendency in devoted persons to discourage beginners, and hold them back from the communion until they reach a certain point in spiritual attainment; until, for example, they are able to recognise a full and experimental knowledge of the great principles of the Gospel. So young Christians of a tender spirit are often ready to fall in with such advice; and because they know they would come, to a certain extent, ignorantly, they fear they might therefore come unworthily to the sacrament. ”

“ But the context seems to teach us that the leading idea in the apostle’s mind was chastisement for he proceeds to say—“For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves we should not be judged. But when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world.” It is plain that he here speaks of chastisement. ”

“ In such cases persons often feel that they had rather wait until they are more at leisure. They have little time for meditation; they find that their pursuits tend to make their minds secular, causes of irritation frequently arise, and they are led, it may be, into conduct which they fear might be unbecoming the communicant of the Lord. They, therefore, postpone the communion in the hope of greater leisure; the usual result of which postponement is, that one delay follows another till the whole desire becomes extinct within the soul. The servant, for example, waits till she is settled ”

“ But there are many tender consciences in the Church of Christ, and many hopeful persons who are apt to write hard things against themselves. Such persons will sometimes so deeply feel the solemnity of the warning, that they tremble at the thoughts of communion, and because they see in themselves great defects, are afraid lest possibly they should come unworthily to that sacred feast. Such a conscientious spirit must be respected greatly, and treated tenderly; it is much more hopeful than when persons regard the thing without a fear. ”

“ There are two sorts of judgments mentioned in the Scripture,—the chastisement of God’s children, and the final p. 13punishment of the wicked. Of these, the chastisement is laid on those whom God loves; “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Heb. xii. 6) ; but the final punishment is on the unbelieving. Chastisement is limited and proportioned to his people’s strength, whereas the final punishment is an unmixed cup of horror. Chastisement is for the improvement and sanctification of those who are to reign with Christ; the final punishment is for the vindication of God’s righteous law. ”

“ If it now excludes you from his communion, how will it then fare with you in his kingdom? If ye be now so in love with sin that ye cannot commemorate redemption, what interest do ye suppose ye have in Christ’s atonement? If ye p. 18know so little of the cross of Christ, what can ye expect in his coming kingdom? We do not say that none can be saved who do not attend the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper; but we do say, without the smallest hesitation, that none will be saved who are found so wedded to their sins that they cannot receive it worthily. ”

“ There is a great difference between coming unworthily and being unworthy to come. The pharisee and publican were both unworthy; but the pharisee alone went unworthily to the temple. The halt and the lame and the blind, who were gathered out from the streets of the city, were all unworthy of the marriage supper; but the man without the wedding garment was the only one who sat down unworthily. ”

“ So the noblest saint that ever joined in heaven’s happy hymn, was utterly unworthy of the blessed feast of his Redeemer’s love, and could best appreciate the heart-stirring language of our Liturgy,—“We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table;” but the careless man, who knows nothing of the broken heart, who is living in strife, and does not discern the Lord’s body, he is the person that comes unworthily. ”

“ And as the body lives by outward food, so the believing soul feeds on Christ. He is the living bread which came down from heaven, the heavenly manna p. 8provided for his people throughout the wilderness. “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever.” ”

“ And if there be any poor and uninstructed person, who is no scholar, and has little knowledge even of the things of God, who has still the desire to act as Christ appointed, let not such an one be for a moment discouraged by his ignorance ”

“ They do not apply to persons actively engaged in the business of life. It has pleased God to place us in a world in which we are surrounded by various cares and duties. Some are in business, and have their minds constantly occupied by its management ”

“ It is plain, therefore, that love should reign there. We should be knit to each other in holy love, as each one is knit to Christ by faith; and whoever breaks the bond of love dishonours Christ, and comes p. 15unworthily to the communion. ”

“ In the present day it is quite impossible that any person should commit the actual sin here described. The mode in which the sacrament is administered and the p. 16laws of society alike prevent all risk of such an outrage. ”

“ And this suggests the extreme caution with which individuals should be urged to become communicants. Masters will, sometimes, show great zeal in persuading servants to attend the sacrament, and parents will bring their children thither as a matter of course, on their attainment of a certain age. ”