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was only a shadowy representation of the New Testament reality. The words “for you” have no
wider application than they do in the statement made in connection with the bread, “which is
given for you.” They are not to be understood in the unrestricted sense of “for all men
indiscriminately,” but rather in the limited sense of “for you and for all who are really my
disciples.” The concluding words in I Cor. 11:26, “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this
cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till He come,” point to the perennial significance of the Lord’s
Supper as a memorial of the sacrificial death of Christ; and clearly intimate that it should be
celebrated regularly until the Lord’s return.
E. THE THINGS SIGNIFIED AND SEALED IN THE LORD’S SUPPER.
1. THE THINGS SIGNIFIED IN THE SACRAMENT.
It is one of the characteristics of a sacrament
that it represents one or more spiritual truths by means of sensible and outward signs. The
outward sign in the case of the Lord’s Supper includes not only the visible elements employed,
but also the breaking of the bread and the pouring of the wine, the appropriation of bread and
wine by eating and drinking, and the partaking of them in communion with others. The
following points should be mentioned here:
a. It is a symbolical representation of the Lord’s death, I Cor. 11:26. The central fact of
redemption, prefigured in the sacrifices of the Old Testament, is clearly set forth by means of
the significant symbols of the New Testament sacrament. The words of the institution, “broken
for you” and “shed for many”, point to the fact that the death of Christ is a sacrificial one, for
the benefit, and even in the place, of His people.
b. It also symbolizes the believer’s participation in the crucified Christ. In the celebration of the
Lord’s Supper the participants not merely look at the symbols, but receive them and feed upon
them. Figuratively speaking, they “eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood,” John
6:53, that is, they symbolically appropriate the benefits secured by the sacrificial death of
Christ.
c. It represents, not only the death of Christ as the object of faith, and the act of faith which
unites the believer to Christ, but also the effect of this act as giving life, strength, and joy, to the
soul. This is implied in the emblems used. Just as bread and wine nourish and invigorate the
bodily life of man, so Christ sustains and quickens the life of the soul. Believers are regularly
represented in Scripture as having their life, and strength, and happiness, in Christ.
d. Finally, the sacrament also symbolizes the union of believers with one another. As members
of the mystical body of Jesus Christ, constituting a spiritual unity, they eat of the same bread
and drink of the same wine, I Cor. 10:17; 12:13. Receiving the elements, the one from the
other, they exercise intimate communion with one another.