Daily Readings in Life of Christ - J.R. Miller (1890)

October 19. The Last Supper

"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body." Matthew 26:26

There was a meaning in every act. The bread itself is an appropriate emblem of Christ's body. Bread is food; Christ is food for our souls. Something may be learned from the manner in which bread is prepared. The wheat is crushed and broken, and then the bread is baked in the fire before it is ready for use. So Christ died, His body was bruised and broken, and He was exposed to the fire of great suffering — before He could become the food and life of our souls.

The breaking of the bread is also significant, denoting the breaking of the body of Christ on the cross. We ought never to forget, in our sweet enjoyment of the blessing of grace — what it cost our Lord to provide them for us. Whenever we sit at our Lord's table and see the bread broken — we should remember the anguish and suffering endured by our Redeemer in saving us.

The giving of the bread to the disciples had also a deep meaning. It signified the freeness of Christ's offer of Himself to men. He is ever standing, reaching out His hands with the bread of life, imploring men to take all the blessings of salvation freely.

The taking of the bread by the communicant is significant of the act of faith by which Christ Himself is received. He offers — we receive. It is not enough that Christ gave Himself on the cross for sinners, and now holds out in pierced hands the blessings of redemption. These stupendous acts of love and grace alone will not save us. There is a needed link which we must supply: we must reach out our hands and accept and take what Christ so graciously and lovingly offers to us. Then, since bread to nourish us must be eaten, we must receive Christ into our life as our soul's sustenance, feeding upon Him.

 Sir Winston Churchill on the Bible

    "We reject with scorn all those learned and labored myths that Moses was but a lengendary figure upon whom the priesthood and the people hung their essential social, moral, and religious ordinances.

    We believe that the most scientific view, the most up-to-date and rationalistic conception will find its fullest satisfaction in taking the Bible story literally and in identifying one of the greatest human beings with the most decisive leap forward ever discernable in the human history. 

    We remain unmoved by the tomes of Professors Grad-grind and Dr. Dryasdust. We may be sure that all things happened just as they are set out according to Holy Writ. We may believe that they happened to people not so very different from ourselves, and that the impressions those people received were faithfully recorded and have been transmitted across the centuries with far more accuracy than any of the telegraphed accounts we read of goings on of today. In the words of a forgotten work of Mr. Gladstone, we rest with assurance upon 'The Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture.'

    "Let the men of science and learning expand their knowledge and probe with their researches every detail of the records which have been preserved to us from these dim ages. All they will do is to fortify the grand simplicity and essential accuracy of the recorded truths which have lighted so far the pilgrimage of man."

The Prayer of General Confession

 THE FAMILY ALTAR

October 18.

"Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after

Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."

Matt. 16:24.

How ugly is sin, and how degrading its evil power! We see

this every day in the lives of unconverted men. Can there be a

more disgusting and pitiful sight than a man who cannot control

his passion for drink or morphine ? What vile diseases carnal lust

causes in men and women ! How so-called gentlemen often shock

others by their foul and blasphemous language because they cannot

control their temper. And though unregenerate men may succeed

in leading an outwardly moral and respectable life, on closer

acquaintance you will find them filled with pride, or vanity, or

avarice, or malice, or other ugly, sinful traits of character. Jesus

would save His followers from this debasing power of sin. He,

therefore, calls His Christians into the school of self-denial and

cross-bearing. Sessions in this school are held every day. Every

day His pupils must learn to resist the suggestions of their own

sin-corrupted hearts, must learn to say no to evil companions who

would lead them to play the truant, and instead of enjoying the

alluring pleasures of the wicked world must deny its lusts, and

live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. It is not

an easy school to be in; but it is a most ennobling and refining

school. The longer you are in it, the better you like it; for the

Master becomes dearer to you every day, and His wise and kind

precepts and His inspiring example set your heart aglow with the

holy desire to become more and more like Him. When your lesson

in cross-bearing is too hard for you, before you know it, He is at

your side and carrying the heaviest end, and encouraging, and com-

forting you. And when school closes, what then ? The end of the

poor devotee of sin and pleasure is death. You who have gone to

Christ's school shall graduate into the high school above where all

self-denial and cross-bearing is at an end, and the divine diploma

of "Well done," and, above all, perfect holiness in the image of the

Master is yours forever.

O love, how cheering is thy ray!

All pain before thy presence flies:

Care, anguish, sorrow, melt away,

Where'er thy healing beams arise.

O Jesus, nothing may I see,

Nothing desire or seek but Thee!