June 2017 Communion Meditation
LEAVING THE LORD'S TABLE TO WALK IN LOVE, OBEDIENCE, AND HOPE
from John Willison's "Sacramental Catechism" (pp. 265, 270-272)
Q. What is that suitable frame and disposition of spirit which communicants ought to have when they rise and come from the Lord's Table?
A. We ought to come away from this ordinance in [among other things] a charitable frame, in a willing and obedient frame, in a fixed and resolute frame, [and] in a longing and heavenly frame.
Q. Wherein lies that charitable [or loving] disposition which we ought to have when we come away from the Lord's Table?
A. 1. In bearing good will to the souls of all men and heartily wishing their welfare (1 Thess. 3:5, 12).
A. 2. In having a true love for all the members of Christ's body and in bearing with them, though in various things they differ from us.
A. 3. In a readiness to relieve the poor and indigent [destitute] according to our ability (Gal. 6:10).
A. 4. In a disposition to forgive those who have been injurious to us. And surely all who have been sharers of God's mercy and grace in the sacrament will come away from it with such a charitable disposition.
Q. What is the willing and obedient frame which communicants ought to have when they come from the Lord's Table?
A. It lies in these things:
1. In a grateful sense of the many ties and obligations we are under to serve Him.
2. In making it our great scope and design to approve ourselves to God in all things.
3. In making it our study to know God's mind and will and what it is that is most acceptable and pleasing to Him.
4. In having a universal respect to all God's commands and a readiness of mind for every good work.
5. In being active and zealous for the glory of God and the interest of His kingdom among men.
Q. What is that fixed and resolute frame which we ought to have when we come away from the Lord's Table?
A. It is the soul's deliberate and steadfast resolution to adhere to Christ, His ways, and His interest, in the midst of trials and difficulties. We must now be at a point in this matter where we are fully determined, by the grace of God, to look and to go forward in our Christian course, and that no solicitation or temptation shall move us either to look back or to draw back, but that with purpose of heart we will cleave unto the Lord (Ps. 119:30-31, 115; Acts 11:23).
Q. What is the longing and heavenly frame which we ought to have when we come from the Lord's Table?
A. It consists of these things:
1. In a firm belief in Christ's second coming and in the life everlasting.
2. In a lively meditation upon Christ's coming and future glory.
3. In an earnest looking for that blessed hope, and a joyful expectation of the glory to be revealed (Titus 2:13; Rom. 5:2).
4. In a constant watching and preparing for the coming of the Bridegroom (Luke 12:36-37).