Why are we here? (Read Matt, 28:1-6; 1 Cor. 11:2626For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. (1 Corinthians 11:26).) It is a very blessed fact, recorded in this verse, that in the eating of this bread, and drinking of this cup, we show the Lord’s death till He come; and that it continues till He come. That is to say, there is to be no break in it in this world. There is always that place for the Christian to be in, and that occupation for him here, and no other place. There can be no doubt as to that; it is the place to be together. One would see at once that is the thing to be carried out.
Now I would ask a question: Is that what we are here for? Have we come here with the object of showing the Lord’s death till He come? And, having done that, do we go home satisfied that we have done the right thing—done our duty? Many go home from church and chapel with the same idea—a peculiar way of doing our duty. Is that the thing that brought us here, to show the Lord’s death till He come, and knowing that it is to go on till He does come—the only place for the Christian, the only rallying-point? Let us ask ourselves and one another what our object is, because it is being at a very low ebb, if we merely come here with the object of showing the Lord’s death, and stop there. That is not what is meant; the Lord did not put it that way, that is not the object.
The Lord speaks to our hearts; He does not tell us to do our duty. He says, “This do in remembrance of me.” It is having before the soul the thought of the Lord Himself; and has He so drawn your heart and affections with the thought of what He is, and has clone, for you? Is that what has drawn you here? That is what He expects from you; and directly we do so, we find ourselves on a right footing, and our hearts together. Our hearts are not necessarily drawn together, if we come merely to show the Lord’s death: any company of Christians could do that—just come together to break bread. We can all come together without having our hearts exercised, though there is no other place where Christians can come together.
It is wonderful what dangerous ground we approach when we are doing the right thing. We are apt to set ourselves up then. I do not say that we are doing wrong, for we are doing right; but when we are doing right, do we go home thoroughly satisfied, because we have done the right thing? There is nothing so dangerous as self-satisfaction. It is a thing that upsets one and another in a most extraordinary way, and the higher the people are, the greater the upset. The thing we have to beware of, is, lest we should be satisfied with ourselves in the smallest degree, even because we have done the right thing. We should, of course, do the right thing; it is perfectly right to remember the Lord here; but that is not the way, I repeat, the Lord puts it. He says, “This do in remembrance of me”—not only because it is right, or because it is your duty, but because the very Person Himself has attracted your souls here.
Matt. 28:1-61In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 5And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. (Matthew 28:1‑6) give us an example of this. What attracted these women was the Lord Himself, and the Lord Himself in the place where He was; or rather where they thought He was. They had nothing to gain by getting up so early—it was no profit to them; hut it was true devotion and devotedness to Himself, and nothing else-that was what brought them. They did not look for approval as an object, even from the Lord Himself; and that is a lesson to us, and it is well to learn this lesson. We need the approval of no one to satisfy the heart and soul that is in a right state, and laid hold of by the Lord Himself. We do not require anything else, and it carries us on; nor do we look on this side, or that side, for approval. It renders the soul independent of this world, because the heart is satisfied. And then, do you go home, satisfied that you have done the right thing? No! The soul feels dissatisfaction with itself for its coldness. What a blessed thing, because that in itself makes the soul grow. Nothing makes the soul grow like dissatisfaction with itself. The moment the soul gets satisfied with itself in the smallest degree, it is going down. We never can be satisfied with our affections. (“We love him, because he first loved us.”) Have you ever found a heart satisfied because it loved so much? People look at themselves, and say, My love is so cold, so wretched, and so poor, but it is only self-occupation after all. What is His love to you?
May the Lord, in His grace, teach our souls to distinguish these things, so that our hearts may enjoy the privilege, for His name’s sake.
W. F. B.