Martin Bucer on the Lord’s Supper

These themes I found valuable:
- communion is a gift from God given because we need it
- frequency
- the tone of thankfulness and joyful triumph

“The Lord, therefore, out of his great and ineffable love, has ordained and appointed for us a sacred supper in which he gives us his body and blood, in order that we through him and in him may become a new and divine flesh-and-blood and ever more fully live in him and he in us, with a life truly divine. We should receive these great and precious gifts as frequently as possible with sincere devotion and utter thankfulness, and in the act of receiving commit ourselves ever more completely to him and proclaim triumphantly and declare to others by word and deed his death and our redemption.”

(Martin Bucer, “A Brief Statement or Instruction on How the Sick Should Be Visited by the Ministers of the Church and the Procedure to Be Followed in Their Homes, about 1549.” In Early Protestant Spirituality (The Classics of Western Spirituality). Edited and translated by Scott H. Hendrix.)

Communion with Christ and with the Saints

"Communion with Christ and with the Saints"

Isaac Watts

Jesus invites His saints
To meet around His board;
Here pardoned rebels sit and hold
Communion with their Lord.

For food He gives His flesh,
He bids us drink His blood;
Amazing favor, matchless grace
Of our descending God!

This holy bread and wine
Maintains our fainting breath,
By union with our Living Lord,
And interest in His death.

Our heavenly Father calls
Christ and His members one;
We, the young children of His love,
And He, the firstborn Son.

We are but several parts
Of the same broken bread;
One body hath its several limbs,
But Jesus is the Head.

Let all our powers be joined
His glorious name to raise;
Pleasure and love fill every mind,
And every voice be praise.

Quoted in Worthy Is the Lamb: Puritan Poetry in Honor of Christ
Maureen Bradley; Edited by Don Kistler and Joel Rishel (page 238)

Joy in Communion, Once More

I have previously commented here on the fact that we should come joyfully to the Lord’s table contrary to some practice and teaching we have received. Ray Ortlund recently posted this quote which nicely affirms this point as well.

“We come as children to our Father’s table and to sit there with Jesus Christ, our elder brother. Now a father does not love to have his child sitting in a sullen and dogged way at his table or to be crying, but would rather have the child sitting in comfort with a holy cheerfulness, with a holy freedom of spirit, not in a sullen way, but as a child in the presence of his father, and not as a servant with the master.”

Jeremiah Burroughs, Gospel Worship (Ligonier, 1990), page 330.

J B Phillips on Communion and Unity

“Holy Communion is intended surely for all those who love our Lord and Saviour in sincerity and truth. This Mystery cannot be ‘cornered’ by any denomination and reserved exclusively for the use of its own members. We are one in Christ, whether we like it or not, and whether we approve of the other denominational tradition or not. Unless we are prepared to say that those nurtured in a different branch of the Christian Church are not Christians at all, I, for one, cannot see by what right I exclude my fellow Christian from Communion with our common Lord.” (60)



“For what it is worth, I would make a strong plea that we do not exclude from the Lord’s Table in our Church those who are undoubtedly sincere Christians.” (61)

J.B. Phillips, Appointment with God;: Some thoughts on Holy Communion

J B Phillips on the Value of Communion

"We really show irreverence, we really dishonor Christ, when we refuse to believe that His Life, with its transforming and activating powers, can be resident in such people as ourselves.” (32)

“It is obvious that the Christian life can be maintained without Holy Communion at all. Indeed, it is so maintained, for example, both by the Quakers and by the Salvation Army. But it is surely not the normal, surely not the ‘Catholic’ way (in its proper sense), in which the Spirit has led the Church through the centuries. A man may lead a happy and useful life with only one lung, or with part of his internal organs removed by surgery, but that is not the norm. Obviously it is possible for God to give His grace in a dozen different ways, but it is difficult to see why Christ instituted this particular means of spiritual nutrition unless it had a particular point and purpose for the vast army of His future followers. Indeed, it is true to say from experience that Christians, unless they are prejudiced, or conditioned by their upbringing, are drawn intuitively toward Holy Communion. Their own natural spiritual hunger draws them instinctively toward the holy provision of the Lord’s Table.” (33-34)

“…we can accept the cordial of God’s free forgiveness and reinstatement. There is no question of our deserving such generous love, but it is a fact of life of which we can be quite sure.” (57)

J.B. Phillips, Appointment with God: Some thoughts on Holy Communion

J B Phillips on Awareness of Others in Communion

I have discussed at various other times the importance of the corporate element of our worship. This is also true in communion, as Phillips notes in these quotes:

“Christians of every kind need to beware of pietistic individualism, and this no less true at the focal point of worship than at any other place in the Christian life.” (26-27)

“Holy Communion is surely always falling short of its true purpose if it fails to produce some sense of solidarity with our fellow worshippers.” (28)

Part of the point according to 1 Cor 11 is awareness of our fellow members of the congregation. We often miss this in our individualistic practice of shutting everyone else while we individually commune with God. This is why at our church we have gone to keeping our eyes open and drawing attention to the fact that we partake of these elements together, as one body reaffirming faith in this one Savior who has made us all part of His one Body.



J.B. Phillips, Appointment With God: Some Thoughts on Holy Communion

J B Phillips on Lack of Appreciation of Communion

Following on from yesterday’s post, Phillips in these quotes diagnosed (50+ years ago) a problem which is common in evangelical churches. I cite these quotes as a part of the call to reconsider our practice of communion so that we might appreciate anew the value of this practice which Christ Himself commanded, and which He apparently thought we would benefit from.

“But, if the truth were told … there is a good proportion of people to whom Communion is very little more than a sacred duty. . . . They continue to be Communicants out of a sense of duty or loyalty, but somehow the glowing, precious secret which is plainly experienced by others seems to elude them.” (5)

“But we cannot make any progress spiritually without the most uncompromising honesty. We could save ourselves and the Church at large a great deal of unhappiness, unreality, and inward dissatisfaction if we dared to use the clean cold sword of truth. If Communion is in fact largely a disappointment to us, let us have the courage to admit to ourselves and to God that this is so.” (6)

“The early Christians found their deepest fellowship with their unseen Lord as well as with one another in what began as a very simple rite.” (11)

“To put it quite bluntly, evangelical Protestants have been so busy saying what the Holy Communion is not that they have left themselves sometimes with a sterile bundle of denials, and very little positive doctrine.” (12)

J.B. Phillips, Appointment With God: Some Thoughts on Holy Communion

Communion & Imagination

Yesterday I read J. B. Phillips little book from 1956, Appointment With God: Some Thoughts on Holy Communion. Phillips is best known for his interpretive translation of the New Testament. He was an Anglican priest so I knew I would have some differences with him on this topic, but I have appreciated his writing ability so I was intrigued by the book when I saw it. In the end I was not disappointed. I plan t post a few quotes over the next few days.


In this post, I will just draw attention to an introductory comment Phillips made. He mentioned that he wrote the book “to show how, for Christians who are prepared to use their minds and imaginations, it [communion] can deepen and enrich their spiritual lives” (vii). This comment grabbed me. Surely this exposes one reason why so many today fail to see the value or to appreciate the wonder of communion. We are not training people in the biblical value of and use of the imagination. You can’t read the imagery of the Psalms, the prophets, the parables of Jesus or Revelation and miss the use of words to stir the imagination. Too many evangelicals are scared of the imagination, imagining it to be in opposition to historical fact. But there need be no contradiction here. We have abandoned one important aspect of the mind and are the poorer for it. We desperately need to reclaim a sanctified imagination.

(previous post on preaching & imagination)

Judson on Weekly Communion

I recently came across Edward Judson’s book, The Institutional Church: A Primer in Pastoral Theology(New York: Lentilhon, 1899; link is to a reprint) and found an interesting discussion of communion. Judson was the son of Adoniram Judson and had been born on the mission field. He served as pastor of Memorial Baptist Church in New York City from 1881 to 1914.

I found this interesting in his affirmation of weekly communion and the importance of joy and simplicity in the observance.

“We have found it very helpful to observe the Communion every Sunday morning. This seems to accord with the primitive custom of the church, the early Christians meeting on the first day of the week to break bread. Besides, the members of a down-town church are so widely scattered, and their attendance upon public worship is necessarily so desultory, that it is peculiarly wholesome and comfortable for them, whenever they come to church of a Sunday morning, to find awaiting them the simple repast that so vividly and pathetically symbolizes Christ’s sufferings and death on their behalf, and their deep mystical union with Him through faith and love. Otherwise, a long period might elapse without their sharing in this social rite, which constitutes the very essence of their membership in the visible and local church. ... Let the Communion be brief. In the very nature of the case, sign language is most vivid when first presented to the eye, and loses rather than gains in impressiveness, when too long continued. Communion should not be a doleful repast, but suffused with solemn joy. The prayers should be short, like grace at meat.” (57-58)

Elizabeth Prentiss, Communion Poem

For several years now I have enjoyed Elizabeth Prentiss’s poem collection titled Golden Hours (now nicely reprinted by Solid Ground Christian Books). I came back across this poem this week as I have been contemplating communion.

“In Remembrance of Me”

Dear Jesus, Thou this feast hast spread,
Invited guests are we;
We come as Thou hast bid us come,
Thus to remember Thee.

We come from sinful thought and aim,
More earnestly to flee;
Pardon to seek and grace to find,
As we remember Thee.

We come to thank Thee for Thy love
So rich, so full, so free;
To bless Thee, praise Thee, lose ourselves
As we remember Thee.

We come to lay the burdens down
That press most heavily;
To enter into perfect peace
As we remember Thee.

Our penitence, our love, our hope,
Oh condescend to see,
And let us “bear a song away”
As we remember Thee.

- Elizabeth Prentiss

John Flavel on the Value of Communion

“This ordinance hath a direct and peculiar tendency to the improvement and strengthening of faith. It is a pledge superadded to the promise for faith’s sake: Heavenly and sublime mysteries do therein stoop down to your senses, that you may have the clearer apprehensions of them; and the clearer the apprehensions are, the stronger the assent of faith must needs be: By this seal also the promise comes to be more ratified to us; and the firmer the promise appears to the soul, the more bold and adventurous faith is in casting itself upon it.” [Flavel, Works, VI:45]

- Quoted in J. Stephen Yuille. The Inner Sanctum of Puritan Piety: John Flavel’s Doctrine of Mystical Union with Christ(Reformation Heritage Books, 2007), p. 102

Packer on Communion

J. I. Packer has a wonderful essay on the Lord’s Supper titled “The Gospel and the Lord’s Supper” in Serving the People of God: Collected Shorter Writings of J.I. Packer, Vol 2 (I have the Paternoster edition, but it is published this side of the pond by Regent).

In the original article he is addressing some specific issues in Anglicanism, but it is quite applicable to all evangelicals. He expounds the gospel in contrast to some competing gospels (Barth, Hick, popular self-help) and discusses how the Supper is to be a reminder of the true gospel. It is a great, short read.

Here are some quotes to entice you.

“The Lord’s Supper is about the Gospel of the marvelous sovereign grace of God, saving sinners who are fundamentally and radically bad until grace finds them and makes them new.” (46)

“What we need more than anything else at the Lord’s Table is a fresh grasp of the glorious truth that we sinners are offered mercy through faith in the Christ who forgives and restores, out of which faith comes all the praise that we offer and all the service that we render. . . . for this everlasting gospel of salvation for sinners is what in Scripture the Lord’s Supper is all about.” (49)

“We are also to learn the divinely intended discipline of drawing assurance from the sacrament. We should be saying in our hearts, ‘As sure as I see and touch and taste this bread and this wine, so sure is it that Jesus Christ is not a fancy but a fact, that he is for real, and that he offers me himself to be my Saviour, my Bread of Life, and my Guide to glory. He has left me this rite, this gesture, this token, this ritual action as a guarantee of this grace; He instituted it, and it is a sign of life-giving union with him, and I’m taking part in it, and thus I know that I am his and he is mine forever.’ That is the assurance that we should be drawing from our sharing in the Lord’s Supper every time we come to the table.” (50)

“A strange perverse idea has got into Anglican hearts that the Lord’s Supper is a flight of the alone to the Alone; it is my communion I come to make, not our communion in which I come to share. You can’t imagine a more radical denial of the Gospel than that.” (50)

“At the Holy Table, above all, let there be praise!” (51)

John Brown on More Frequent Communion

I have recently read John Brown of Haddington’s booklet An Apology for the more Frequent Administration of the Lord’s Supper: with Answers to the Objections Urged Against It (Edinburgh: Printed by J. Ritchie for Ogle & Aikman, Edinburgh, M. Ogle, Glasgow and R. Oble, London, 1804). According to WorldCat there are only about 3 copies of this booklet in North America so I was pleased to get a fiche version which could be borrowed.

This is the John Brown whose effort to teach himself Greek is recounted by A. T. Robertson in his ‘big grammar.’ Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson in their fine intro to Brown state, “Eighteenth-century Scotland produced many noted ministers, scholars and educators, but none greater, or so greatly loved, in his own day or afterwards, as John Brown of Haddington” (in The Systematic Theology of John Brown of Haddington).

Brown makes a persuasive argument about the value of celebrating communion more frequently. Here are some quotes:

“In the apostolic times it was ordinarily administered every Sabbath, as is granted by all those who have inquired into the history of these times”(5-6)

“Have Christians now less need of this ordinance? . . . . Has [Christ] transferred the virtue and usefulness of this ordinance to another? If none of these can be pretended, why count the example of the apostles a sufficient warrant for the observation of the first day Sabbath, for public worship, for holding synods and presbyteries, if we count not their example in the frequent administration of the supper also worthy of, and fit for, our imitation.” (6)

“That the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was generally administered every Lord’s day for the space of about 300 years is beyond dispute.” (Footnote: Vide Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Augustine, Mintius Felix, Cyprian, Fortunatus, Basil, Ambrose, Jerome, and others) (6)

“As often as the church of Christ has been in a flourishing state, greater frequency has been practiced or pushed.” (12)

“On the other hand, a declension toward the unfrequent celebration of this ordinance, has been generally the close attendant of apostasy and backsliding.” (12)

“Is it not then merciless, is it not cruel, in an overseer of souls, to allow such persons but one or two sacramental meals in the year, when ; it lies in his power to afford them more? Christ allows them to communicate every Sabbath; Christ’s servants voluntarily refuse to allow them to communicate above once or twice in the year, by keeping away the sacrament from them bounds!” (17)

“All human devices to render God’s ordinances more solemn, are impeachments of his wisdom, and have always tended to bring the ordinances into contempt.” (27)

“If the abuse of an ordinance is any reason against the frequent use of it, why preach we any more than one Sabbath in the year, since to many our preaching is the savour of death unto death, and gives men an occasion to trample under foot the blood of the Son of God?” (29)

“…the conscientious approach to God in this solemn ordinance, the Sabbath before and the Sabbath after, would more effectually prepare the soul for receiving and rivetting [fastening firmly] divine impressions, than all the work of these three days.” (35)

I am pursuing the possibility of having this booklet republished in modern font and with some explanatory notations.

Jacobus on Fitness for Communion

Here is another good quote from Melanchthon Jacobus, this time on faith in coming to the Lord’s Table,

“Some will not venture to profess Christ until they can rather profess themselves. they wait for worthiness to come to the Lord’s table, not considering that it is uworthiness which they are to profess, along with Christ’s worthiness – their sins, along with His name for remission of sins.” (82)
(Jacobus, Melancthon W. Notes, Critical and Explanatory, on The Acts of the Apostles. 1859. Reprinted by Solid Ground Christian Books, 2006.)

M. E. Dodd on Joyous Communion

In a previous post I took issue with J. M. Pendleton’s morose description of communion. It has not been heartening to find Pendleton’s sentiments echoed in various other Baptist authors of the past. However, today I was encouraged to find M. E. Dodd addressing his own church members, reminding them of their times of celebrating communion as:

“That glad, joyous occasion when our memories are refreshed and when our gratitude is enlarged as we meditate upon the things that Christ did for us as represented in this supper.” (Baptist Principles and Practices [Alexandria, LA: The Chronicle Publishing Co., 1916], 75)

Dodd gave serious time and effort to rehabilitating the practice of communion in his church (as evidenced in his intro to Christ’s Memorial). May we also be able to look back to glad, joyous occasions where we celebrated communion with our fellow church members.

Communion Is Not for Self-Flagellation

I am currently working on a chapter on the practice of communion in churches (I promise, Tom and Matt, I am chasing that deadline!). I recently found an older expression of a view of communion which I want to counter. Here then is an excerpt from my work at this stage:

J. M. Pendleton in his Baptist Church Manual states, “If ever the tragedy of Calvary should engross the thoughts of the Christian to the exclusion of every other topic, it is when he sits at the table of the Lord.”[1] He draws this conclusion from Paul’s words in 1 Cor. 11:26- “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (ESV). I think Pendleton has improperly applied this verse and the results of such application are widely seen. Very often people do in fact approach the Lord’s table in this way, focusing exclusively on the tragedy of Christ’s death. The sense is that the purpose of this exercise is for us to focus on our sin, to remember afresh the depth of our wickedness and how much this cost God. It is almost as if God is that mother who constantly reminds the family how much she has suffered for everyone and wants to make sure you never forget it! But this most certainly is not the point Paul is making. Pendleton (and others after him) unnecessarily infers the word “tragedy.” Yes, the table proclaims Christ’s death, but not simply- or even primarily- the tragedy of His death. Notice the point is that this is “proclamation.” Elsewhere in the New Testament what is being proclaimed when Christ’s death is in view? It is not tragedy, but hope! It is the fact that the death of Christ has made possible the forgiveness of sin, reconciliation with God, transference from being enemies of God to being children of God! What is proclaimed is good news, the gospel. We do wrong when our participation in communion is some sort of self-flagellating focus on tragedy. We do not gather to tell God we’re sorry He had to go through this. We are reminded of our sin, and the length to which the love of God went, but the focus is celebrating the grace of God and giving thanks to God for his amazing grace.

Pendleton goes on to say that communion is “a solemn celebration of his atoning death.” Here, I could not agree more. I simply think that the full weight of the word celebration was not allowed in his previous discussion and is often absent in our practice today. The taking of the elements is the tangible proclamation and reminder of the forgiveness of sins. It is one of God’s prescribed means of reminding His people that he has forgiven their sins. So, let us celebrate communion certainly with awe, amazed that God would do this for us, and with deep thanksgiving.

[1] J. M. Pendleton, Baptist Church Manual (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1966), 89.

Previously Unpublished Edwards Sermons

I am swamped just now with various things including preparation for a new baby (any day now) and a flood of good new books- both blessings! So, I will plan in the next several days to primarily post some book notes.

For the first one, I am excited to mention a brand new press, The Northampton Press, founded by Don Kistler. Kistler previously led Soli Deo Gloria Press where he edited and republished many great Puritan works and other books. He is continuing his work in Northampton Press and his first book there is Sermons on the Lord’s Supper, a collection of previously unpublished sermons by Jonathan Edwards. There is to me something exciting about the publication of old materials that have not previously been published. This volume contains nine sermons on communion and six other sermons on various topics. I have looked through proofs of the book and appreciated it. The book will be available soon and a pre-publication special is being until September 15.

A. Alexander on the Lord’s Supper

Archibald Alexander (1772-1851) was the first professor of Princeton Theological Seminary and one a key figure in early American theology. I am currently working on a review of a reprint of his A Brief Compendium of Bible Truth, which was designed to be a brief treatment of Christian doctrine for laypeople. This weekend I read his treatment of the Lord’s Supper and really appreciated it. The following quotes fit well with the argument I put forward here renewal of our practice.

“As the Lord’s Supper is a memorial of the death of Christ, it should be celebrated often, so that this great sacrifice on which our salvation depends may not be forgotten, but kept in lively remembrance in the Christian church.
…
The value of the Lord’s Supper is incalculable. It is admirably adapted to our nature. It is simple, its meaning is easily apprehended by the weakest minds. It is strongly significant and impressive. It has been called an epitome of the whole gospel, as the central truths of the system, in which all the rest are implied, are here clearly exhibited. And it ever has been signally blessed to the spiritual edification and comfort of the children of God. They, therefore, who neglect this ordinance, do at the same time disobey a positive command of Christ and deprive themselves of one of the richest privileges which can be enjoyed on this side of heaven.”

A Brief Compendium of Bible Truth(1846; reprint 2005, Reformation Heritage Books), p. 188-89.

"Reinvigorating Baptist Practice of the Ordinances"

My article on the ordinances, “Reinvigorating Baptist Practice of the Ordinances”, which I have previously mentioned, is now available online here. I discuss briefly some reasons I think these Christ-ordained institutions have fallen on hard times in Baptist churches and then argue for some specific ways to move forward. Among other things I argue for ‘immediate’ baptism and weekly communion. I would be interested in any thoughts on the article.

Doctrine of the Real Absence!

I am glad to see several comments on my last post. We need to recover an appreciation for the ordinances. Too much of the conversation that has taken place in the past about the ordinances has stressed what they don’t do. That is we have devoted too much of our time arguing that the Church of Christ say too much happens at baptism and Catholics and Lutherans say too much happens in communion. Well, I differ with these groups, but we must work on understanding what these practices positively do mean.

Here is a winsome and wise quote from Millard Erickson (elder statesman of Baptist theology) on this point:

Out of a zeal to avoid the conception that Jesus is present in some sort of magical way, certain Baptists among others have sometimes gone to such extremes as to give the impression that the one place where Jesus most assuredly is not to be found is the Lord’s Supper. This is what one Baptist leader termed ‘the doctrine of the real absence’ of Jesus Christ. (Christian Theology [Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books], 1123)