“S. L.” You ask, Is it incumbent at the Lord's Supper to give thanks separately for the wine? We cannot do better than quote for you the whole testimony of Scripture on the point. We are more thoroughly convinced, each day we live, of the urgent need of keeping close to the written word. Truth must be the girdle wherewith to strengthen our loins for every line of action. It is not what we ourselves or others think, or feel, or say. There is far too much of this within us and around us. We want to bow down to the authority of Holy Scripture. We want a “Thus saith the Lord” for all that may be pressed upon us. If Scripture is silent, we may well be silent too, inasmuch as it speaks fully and clearly in reference to all we need to know. But when Scripture speaks, its authority is paramount, and we have no right to pursue a line of conduct, as to the smallest matter, for which there is no foundation in the word of God. We may deem certain things very right, very good, and very suitable; but still the question remains to be asked and answered, “Where is the authority?” An all-important question now-a-days. Who are we? What is man, even the best of men? or what are his thoughts worth? Just nothing, if not founded on the eternal foundation of the Holy Scriptures. Do we not see, every day, how easily men slip away from Scripture, and get into their own notions? And do we not also see the disastrous consequences of so slipping away? It is like the points on a railway; at first, the measure of divergence seems to be hardly perceptible; but look at the end!
What, then, saith the Scripture in reply to your question? We turn, in the first place, to Matt. 26, and there we read, “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to the disciples, and said, Take eat, this is my body. And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it.” (Ver. 26, 27.)
Again, in Mark 14 we read, “And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to them, and said, Take eat, this is my body. And He took the cup; and when He had given thanks, He gave to them, and they all drank of it.” (Ver. 22, 23.) So also in Luke 22 we read, ''And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” (Ver. 19, 20.) The word “likewise” in this last quoted passage implies that our Lord did with “the cup” as He had done with “the bread.” Finally, in the first epistle to the Corinthians we read, “The cup of blessing which we I less, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ I The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ 'I” (Chapter 10:16.) “ For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He brake, and said, Take eat; this is my body which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood; this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do spew the Lord's death till He come.” (Chapter 11:23-26.)
Oh! dear friend, how important it is to keep close to the veritable words of Christ, and to be so close to Him as to value what He says! There is a deplorable amount of ignorance of Scripture amongst us. The very plainest and simplest precepts of Christ we seem not to know, or to have wholly let them slip from the memory of our hearts. Even on the momentous subject which you have brought tinder our notice, what ignorance, what carelessness, what inaccuracy, what divergence of thought, what difference of judgment, what conflict of feeling, as to the order, the nature, the character, the meaning, and object of the precious Supper of our Lord! Why is this? Is not Scripture sufficiently full, plain, explicit, and authoritative? Has it left any ground for difference of judgment? Does it afford any margin in the which to insert our own opinions and feelings? Not the breadth of a hair. It tells us the order, and it tells us the mode; it gives us the elements, and explains to us their deep and wondrous significance. It gives us the authority of Christ, and the powerful influence of His example. What, then, do we want? What is the deficiency? Ah! we want subjection to the authority of Christ. We want to do His will. We want that accurate acquaintance with Scripture that flows from the practical carrying out of what Scripture says. Here, we may rest assured, lies the root of the whole matter. “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine.” But how is it ofttimes with us? Have we not often found ourselves persisting in a course of action, and persisting in a line of thought for which there is not a shadow of foundation in Scripture? How is it, for example, that we so often find all manner of things introduced at the Lord's Table, rather than the one thing which it is divinely intended to set forth? The teaching of Scripture is clear and emphatic, namely, “Ye do skew the Lord's death;” and yet, how often do we find anything and everything but this introduced at the Table It may be said, “Do not a great many things flow from the Lord's death? Do not life, righteousness, and everlasting glory flow to us from the death of Christ?” Unquestionably; but where is it said in Scripture that we do show life, righteousness, glory, or any other precious fruit of the death of Christ, in the Lord's Supper Nowhere. “Ye do skew the Lord's death,” True, it is, “Till He come:” but we do not show His coming, but. His death, till He come.
Now, there is far more involved in a right apprehension of the import and object of the Lord's Supper than many are aware. We feel convinced, that where the Lord's death is kept prominently before the soul, at the Table, there will be a depth of tone, a subduedness of soul, a chastening of the heart, an exercise of conscience, which will shed a distinct influence over the whole life, walk, and character. And, on the other hand, where, instead of the Lord's death, all manner of things are introduced, you will find levity, unsubduedness, lack of self-judgment, and of profound exercise of conscience.
We earnestly entreat you, dear friend, and all our Christian readers, to give this matter much calm and prayerful consideration in the light of Holy Scripture; and may the Lord give unity Of judgment, thought, and feeling, the sure result of being so near to Him as to feel and own the authority of His word As to your immediate question, we think it perfectly plain that thanks should he given in connection with the cup, as well as with the bread.