Montgomery County sentinel., 1940-02-29

Men SometlmeS Stano at the cross
roads Of destiny quite unaware Of
how much hinges upon their choices
and actions. One wonders whether
the disciples realized that as the
Passover drew to its end and the
great memorial feast Of the new
covenant was established, they were
witnessing the end of the old and the
beginning Of the new. It is certain
that Jesus did realize the high i'm.
port Of that hour. He knew He was
about to 60 to the cross. toward
which the Passover had pointed
throughout the centuries and back
to which cross we in the Lords Sup
per continue to point as we remem-
ber His death until He comes.
We are indeed on holy ground as
we 60 with Him then as He meets
His disciples alone in that upper
room for time Of fellowship with
them as He observes
I. The Last Passover (vv. 1920.
Here we see the perfecting and
the passing Of the old economy and
the beginning Of the new. The Pass.
over was observed. the feast Of
deliverance from slavery. the feast
of the exodus, the feast Of hope.
Men had kept it fitfully through the
long centuries, regularly at first and
then occasionally through the age Of
decadence. The King sat down to
keep It as one Of the nation and the
people. That was its last keeping
In the economy Of God. because all
that It had foreshadowed was full.
filed as He sat at the board. and
all that 1t had pointed to found the
ultimate ftilfllment In Him. He
completed that Of which the exodus
had but been the preparation. The
final exodus came by the way Of
that cross to which He was going
CDR. G. Campbell Morgan).
ii. The Betrayal Predicted wv.
21-25).
What precious fellowship the
twelve and their Lord must have
had around that table in the upper
room as they celebrated the great
feast Of their people. Think what
a shock came to them as in the
midst Of this fellowship Jesus quiet
ly and solemnly made the astonish-
ing prediction, Verify, I say unto
you, that one of you shall betray
me-"
Their joy was changed to exceed
ingly great sorrow as they asked,
Lord, is it II" Apparently Judas
had maintained such outward con-
duct as to turn no suspicion in his
direction. even though all along he
had in his heart the blacklist Of
treachery against his Lord. It Is
sad and soul-searching fact which
is here revealed. that it is possible
for one to make high profession
Of faith in Christ and even so to
live as to give no cause for criti-
cism, and yet to be unregenerate
and in fact the enemy Of Christ.
Observe ". 24) that while Jesus
was betrayed and went to the cross
in fulfillment of prophecy. that fact
did not in the slightest justify His
enemies who brought It about (see
Acts 2:23. R. W.
III. The First Communion (vv. 26-
30).
Taking the unleavened bread and
the unfermented wine Of the Pass
over. which had Just been observed
by Him for the last time. Jesus
established new feast. the Chris
tan feast Of remembrance. which
we commonly call communion" or
''the Lords table"
AS we have already suggested. It
Is feast Of remembrance. For
as often as ye eat this bread. and
drink this cup ye do show the Lords
death till He come" Il Cor. 1920.
At the Lords table His followers
find spiritual strength In remem-
bering His death for them, and they
also find Joy as they remember that
He Is to come again. In doing 90
they testify to the world that they
believe in and cherish these truths.
This feast Is also rightly called
communion" for down through the
ages and until He does come the
saints Of God have at His table
sweet communion, first Of all with
Him, and then with one another.
We also note that our Lord spoke
Of the cup as my blood Of the new
testament" The word testament"
means covenant" The Lords
table therefore speaks of our alle-
glance to Him. Of our loyalty to our
Lord, and our devotion to His serv-
Ice. The Christian church therefore
speaks Of the communion service as
sacrament, q word taken from
the Latin sacramentum, meaning
"oath," and essentially an oath of
allegiance.
His body was broken for US. His
blood was shed for the remission OF
our sins. We are bought with Q
price, we are not our own. There
fore we are to glorify God with all
that we have and are.
Examples Wanted
WWVV n q -