FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY & t member ri e; Remember OR, i)e noltj liommumon. By Rat Palmer. Boston: THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCI] Depositories, 28 Cornhill, Boston ; and 13 Biblb House, Astor Place, New York. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by The American Tract Society, In the Clerk's Ofnce of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. Geo. C. Rand & Avery, Stereotypers and Printers, 3 Cornhill, Boston. TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH TO WHICH HE MINISTERS, ESPECIALLY TO ft be Jloungcr i the] the last passover. In the endeavor to prepare my soul for the sacramental com- munion of his great sacrifice, let me begin at this point, and attend him through some of the painful scenes that followed. He sat down with the twelve. How sim- ple is the statement! and yet how Matthew much does it express ! His hour, as he knew, was just at hand. He must needs 30 Remember Me. perform now his last acts, and make himself ready to be offered. Once more he will keep that great national feast in which his own death, as the true paschal lamb, was repre- sented. How full of meaning it must always have been to him ! But this was to be his it is the last observance of it before the shed- feast. d; n g Q £ kj s own ava iii n g blood upon the cross. The type was now to be fulfilled in that great sacrifice, in view of which the angel of wrath should pass over the true Is- rael, and spare them as redeemed from death. There was every thing in the occasion to move his heart profoundly. He was imme- diately to part from his beloved disciples : worse still, he was to be himself deliberately forsaken by them for a season, and to tread die winepress alone. All this was in his thought. Yet what sublime collectedness of The Passover. soul ! No perturbation, no appeal for sympa- thy or comfort, no want of his usual Jesus perfect equanimity. He exhibits his divinely wonted calmness, mingled with dig- nity and sweetness; was, in a word, altogether like himself. Dear Lord ! what steadiness of purpose, what devotion to thy work, and what strength of holy love, were thine ! Help me herein more faithfully to copy thee. For lack of these thy graces, thy chosen friends were overcome by the fear of man, and failed in the hour of trial. Let me not weakly fal- ter, if for thy sake, and in the way of duty, I am brought to face suffering and shame. Let me admire, too, the compassion and tenderness of Jesus in these affect- Ambition ing circumstances. When the dis- 01 the dis- ciples, not yet understanding the nature of his kingdom, and ignorant of the 32 Remember Me. future, disputed, in a selfish and ambitious spirit, which of them should be greatest, he mildly taught them that no such questions Luke should ever be raised among his servants. Then, to enforce his teachings by his personal example, he him- self assumed the office of a servant, and with Christ ^' 1S own nan< ^ s wa shed and wiped washes their feet ! How touching, and yet how pungent, the rebuke implied! How memorable are the words of comment which he added! — "If I, then, your Lord John 13: an d Master, have washed your feet, ye ought also to wash one another's feet." It was thus that he taught his follow- „,, , ers in all time to be clothed with The lesson of humility humility, and to cultivate and ex- hibit a spirit of mutual helpfulness and love. Ah, Lord ! how few of us have The Passover. 33 thoroughly learned this lesson! But too little care for each other is seen among those who bear thy name. Comparatively few are ready to perform for each other self-denying ser- vices, or even the little acts of kindness to which love naturally prompts. Have I not myself been greatly deficient in Christ-like care and affection for my brethren ? seif-scru- Have I not failed especially to con- descend to them that are of low estate, and to seek their good ? Forgive, O Holy One ! my self-seeking, uncharitableness, and pride. Assist me to love all thine for thy dear sake, and kindly to minister even to the humblest, as opportunity may offer. Ye are not all clean! No: fear- John 13:11 The bc- ful words! In the little band of trayal an- cherished friends, there was one nounced. false, hollow-hearted traitor. Perhaps not, 34 Remember Me. in the beginning, consciously a hypocrite. Quite probably he had been self-deceived, and had believed himself a true disciple ; yet all the while his Lord had recog- John 6 : 70. nized in him a devil. Dear Lord ! and is this possible ? May I, though I have thought I loved thee, though I have borne thy blessed name and have sat around thy table, be counted of thee an enemy even now, and fall away from thee at length? When sometimes my heart grows languid in its devotion, remiss in its watch- fulness, and engrossed with earthly interests ; when the remembrances of thy cross and pas- sion are infrequent, or seem in a measure to have lost their power to move me to grateful tenderness, — I tremble lest my hold on thee should fail entirely, and should prove to be something less than the unyielding grasp of The Passover. 35 a true and living faith. Yet I can not endure to think of this. How but in thee can my soul, that longs for sympathy, for rest, for purity, be satisfied ? Disowned of thee, what would remain for me but a hopeless wretched- ness like that of the false apostle ? " Search me, O God ! and know my heart ; Psalm try me, and know my thoughts ; and 2 ^ 2 +- see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." 36 Remember Me. THE ALARM. E kept the Passover ; it was his last : For now drew near the great predestined day When of man's mighty guilt himself should pay, With dying groans, and blood, the ransom vast. The cross was in his eye ; the hours flew fast : Yet calm he sat, and looked serenely round On all the twelve ; while they, with awe profound, And loving gaze on him, revolved the past, The future from them hid : then, touched, he said, " Of you, one shall betray me unto death ! " At that dire word, betray, they all did start, As if a thunder-peal had stilled each breath, Or sudden mortal pang shot through each heart : " Lord ! is it I ? " each cried with horrid dread. Self-Devotion. 37 SELF-DEVOTION. * AKE me, O my Father ! take me, Take me, save me through thy Son ; That which thou wouldst have me, make me : Let thy will in me be done. Long from thee my footsteps straying, Thorny proved the way I trod : Weary come I now, and praying ; Take me to thy love, my God. Fruitless years with grief recalling, Humbly I confess my sin ; At thy feet, O Father ! falling : To thy household take me in. Freely now to thee I proffer This relenting heart of mine ; Freely life and soul I offer, — Gift unworthy love like thine ! 38 Remember Me. Once the world's Redeemer, dying, Bare our sins upon the tree : On that sacrifice relying, Now I look in hope to thee. Father, take me ; all forgiving, Fold me to thy loving breast : In thy love for ever living, I must be for ever blest. III. THE UNMASKING. WEDNESDAY EVENING. UDAS, though he had flattered himself that the baseness The traitor I of his heart was yet un- exposed ' known to Christ, must have been undeceived by those few and quiet words — M t J l Matt. 26: "Thou hast said do quickly." He withdrew at once from a presence he could no longer bear. Conscious guilt must needs desire to escape the presence of spotless purity. Fixed in his wicked purpose, his own conscience com- pelled the traitor to separate himself for ever That thou doest 25. John 13:27. 40 Remember Me. from the loving and true-hearted disciples, He departs an( j f rom t h e holy Jesus. From finally that hour he became an outcast. ist - " He went out, and it was night," says the evangelist; night not only around him, but yet more dismal night within his soul. He departed from that company of i John 2 : the faithful, because he was never of them, and not because a real tie of love between himself and Christ had now been broken. So, soon or late, will heart sure to be every deceived or consciously false revealed, j^^ rev eal itself. At the bar of judgment, if not sooner, Christ will strip off all disguises, and exhibit every character pre- cisely as it is. O Saviour ! let me not then be found to have been either a deliberate hypocrite, or blindly self-deluded. The departure of Judas must have been a The Unmasking. 41 relief to the blessed Jesus. Now he could speak freely to those, who, in spite The with- of their weakness of faith and their Judas a re- defects, were all of them truly his. lieftojesus He alluded in plain terms to the approach- ing end of his earthly mission, and j G hn 13 : to his departure from the world to enter into his glorified estate. Yet he with- held much ; for he would spare their feelings. Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them to the end ; and he could freely give expression to his affection. Happy eleven ! what can be so delightful as to be allowed, in the Blessed to character of confidential friends, to be with enjoy, apart from the world, free in- tercourse with Christ ? This, Lord, thou givest all who truly love thee leave to do at the sacramental table. With thine, and near 42 Remember Me. to thee, do I earnestly desire to sit, whoever may withdraw. Methinks I hear thee ask, John 6 : 67, " Wilt thou also go away ? " and my heart answers, " Lord, to whom shall I go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life." No, no, my blessed Master! As thou shalt keep me, I will never depart from thee, never neglect to meet thee with thine own around thy sacred board. And wilt thou not help me, that, Jesus will help his weak as in myself I am, I may cleave to thee without faltering ? " I know my sheep, and am known of mine. I give John 10: unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hands." Such are thy pre- cious words. On these I may rely. The great, decisive question is, Am mentous question. I indeed acknowledged of thee as The Unmasking. 43 thine ? Judas was counted in thine house- hold ; but thou didst see in him a son of perdition all the while. My heart, in all its secret recesses, is thoroughly known to thee. Dost thou discern in me even a little faith and love ? Again and again I ask myself if I am truly joined to thee. As often as T prepare to meet thee in the Holy Supper, the inquiry suggests itself anew ; and far as I am from complete conformity to thee, when I listen to the response from my in- most heart, it does seem to testify that I bear thee a true affection. I do feel at times — unless I am totally deceived — a de- lightful consciousness that the Spirit ness of the beareth witness with my spirit that Spirit. I am a child of God. When thou sayest to my soul, " Lovest thou me ? " I do seem able to appeal to thee to answer for 44 Remember Me. me — able to say with Peter, " Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest John 21:15. that I love thee." Dear Lord, con- firm my faith and hope. Give me a sweeter assurance of thy love than ever I have had before at this approaching feast; while the recollection of the fall of Judas fills me with a salutary fear. Separation from thee and thine ! I can not endure the thought. The Departure. 45 . THE DEPARTURE. HE loved disciple lay upon his breast, Drinking sweet influence from that voice divine : He asked; the Master gave at once the That marked the traitor, justified the rest. Then with convicting glance, while yet dismay Sat on the faces of the innocent, He said — and Judas knew the deep intent — " What thou hast purposed, do without delay." Heart-smitten, out into the murky night Went he, foul demons ruling all his soul, And floods of hate that surged without control : Then Jesus cried — his eyes beamed heavenly light — "Now shall the Son of man — betrayed, denied — Before all men, by God be glorified ! " 4 6 Remember Me. SELF-SEARCHING. H, tell me, Jesus ! to my heart — My troubled heart — the secret tell ; May I from thee and thine depart, As Judas when he falsely fell ? Is it not love, this kindling flame That warms my breast oft as thy name Falls on my willing ear ? Is it not faith that oft hath brought My trembling soul the peace it sought, And stilled each restless fear ? This quiet joy that hidden flows Deep in my soul ; that makes me glad, Though many a rude wind round me blows, And many a sorrow makes me sad — Can this calm joy, that ever lives, Be aught but that thy presence gives, Self-Searching. 47 To faithful souls revealed — The presence and the loving smile That gladden all thine own — the while From unbelief concealed ? The tears that oft these eyes have wept When I before thy feet have knelt, Or watch about thy cross have kept, And all thy pangs have keenly felt — Came they not from that holy grief That brings the broken heart relief, And softens it to love ? Was not the hope that wakened there Hope that shall triumph o'er despair, And bear the soul above ? Speak, thou that knowest well — decide If I am thine, oh ! clasp this hand ; And when my feet would stray or slide, Then firmly hold and bid me stand. 4 8 Remember Me. Go forth from thee ? Give me to bear Thy bitter cross, thy thorns to wear ; But let me not depart ! No, Lord : afresh to thee I bring A free, a cheerful offering, — This trusting, grateful heart. IV. THE HOLY SUPPER. THURSDAY EVENING. HRIST and his disciples had now finished the Passover. The great event typified by the paschal lamb — the slaying of the appointed Lamb Ch of God, who should take away the Passover. r i ii • ii 1 C° r - 5 : 7- sin of the world — was just at hand. The Lord, before he would be offered up, would set every thing in order, with a careful foresight of the future needs of his disciples. The time had come, therefore, for the insti- tution of an ordinance, which, to the end of time, might serve at once to express and 50 Remember Me. to sustain the faith of those who should be- lieve. It was the design of the blessed Jesus that his kingdom in the world should take a visi- Christ will ble form ; that is to say, that his dis- ciples, by some appropriate act and a visible Church, testimony, should become known to each other and to the unbelieving 32. Mark ° 16:16. world as his. It was his purpose, also, that they should have fellowship one John 17: with another, and that they all, by a living faith and a holy sympathy, should be united to him, their Saviour and their life, and should perpetually confirm their souls by cherishing and keeping fresh the memory of his sacrificial death. Who but himself would ever have thought of accom- plishing this end by means so very simple ? Collect thyself, then, O my soul ! and The Holy Supper. behold thy Lord while he institutes, to be observed throughout all time, this The touching Christian sacrament — the ° fixed on the taking of consecrated bread and institution, wine as memorials of him. Listen while with words of prayer he sets apart Matt. 26 : these very familiar elements to a 2b ~ 29 ' high and holy use. Then hear him say to the wondering disciples not yet prepared to understand him, " Take, eat ; this is Luke 22 ■. my body which is broken for you : this do in remembrance of mc." And again, taking the cup with thanksgiving, " This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins : this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remem- Amemori- brance of me." It is a truly divine : beautifully simplicity with which the Master simple. thus sets forth, for the instruction and com- 52 Remember Me. fort of all believers, the momentous spiritual truths involved in his cross and passion. The act of eating and drinking with one, from ancient times, and especially among Oriental nations, has been significant The act of eating and °f mutual confidence and affection, in s and a pledge of perpetual friendship. with one a pledge of By it the Saviour means, that, in the hi P* sacramental feast, his followers shal] at once acknowledge and pledge anew, from time to time, their love to one another and to him. But he goes still farther. He an- ticipates, what from them was yet concealed, that he should be to the world the Lamb slain, — the true Paschal Lamb, — at Christ the true Pas- tne sight of which, Eternal Justice chaiLamb. should pass over the sins of the pen- itent and believing. He knows that he is soon to bear upon his head, and in his hands The Holy Supper. 53 and feet and pierced side, the marks of ago- nies endured on behalf of guilty man. Bro- ken for you ! Yes, dearest Lord ! thou wast wounded for our transgressions ; & » Isa. 53:5. thou wast bruised for our iniquities. Thou didst bear our sins in thine own body on the tree. " 'Twas for my sins my dearest Lord Hung on the accursed tree \ And groaned away a dying life For thee, my soul, for thee ! " I see in this bread thy lacerated, suffering body, and through thy sacred wounds The Sup- I penetrate to the anguish of thy pei symbol of spirit. This cup, to me, is the fit Christ's symbol of thy blood — the blood of * uirerin s s and of his the great atonement — shed for the atoning remission of sin. As I look upon 54 Remember Me. this wine, I remember that without the shed- „ , ding of blood there could be no Heb. 9 : 22. ° remission, and that thou, by thine own blood, hast entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal re- Heb.9: 12. r ' & demption for me, a sinful soul — for all who rest on thy once-offered sacrifice. Yes, thou that takest away the sin of the The ob- world, eating this bread and drink- ing this cup, thy disciples shall show servance of the Sup- per a testi- forth thy death until thou come. monj to go will we tell the world and each the world. other that we are thine. When, with my fellow-Christians, I shall again ob- serve thy sacramental ordinance, I will ten- derly and thankfully remember thee, thy painful and bloody death. I will lay my soul once more beneath thy cross ; will repeat with hearty joy the vows of faithful love and ser- The Holy Supper. 55 vice : and by faith my soul shall feast on thee the Bread of life, and drink of thee the spiritual Rock, asking for nothing Christ more than out of thy fullness to be s P iri rece : richly and perpetually filled. Pre- sacrament. pare thou me to meet thee at thy ta- ble. Let thy cup of blessing which 1 Cor. 10: is blessed be indeed to me the com- munion of thy blood ; and the bread which is broken, the communion of thy body. $6 Remember Me. THE INSTITUTION. E took the bread, and blessed it. Then he brake, And gave to each, and said — oh words sub- lime ! — " This is my body broken ! Through all time, In memory of my death, this emblem take." Next for the cup gave thanks. For his dear sake, He bade them taste the wine. " Drink : 'tis my blood, The seal and witness of all grace in God, Till when the judgment trump the dead shall wake." Oh sacred mystery ! communion sweet Of holy, loving souls, in which they flow All into one blest brotherhood, and meet Ineffably their Lord, and joy to know That at this simple board they feast with Him Whose face unveiled fires the rapt seraphim ! Sacramental Hymn. 57 SACRAMENTAL HYMN. BREAD to pilgrims given ! Food that angels eat ! O Manna sent from heaven, For heaven-born natures meet ! Give us, for thee long pining, To eat till richly filled ; Till, earth's delights resigning, Our every wish is stilled ! O Water, life-bestowing, From out the Saviour's heart ! A Fountain purely flowing, A Fount of love, thou art. Oh, let us, freely tasting, Our burning thirst assuage ! Thy sweetness, never wasting, Avails from age to age. 58 Remember Me. Jesus, this feast receiving, We thee, unseen, adore ; Thy faithful word believing, We take, and doubt no more. Give us, thou true and loving, On earth to live in thee ; Then, death the vail removing, Thy glorious face to see ! Translated from Thomas Aquinas. V. PARTING WORDS. FRIDAY EVENING. UR Lord and his chosen friends seem to have lingered a The Sa- while around the table, viour dis cour- after the institution of the Supper; terthe while he, mindful of their approach- ing trials, so immediately connected with his own, discoursed to them at length. He spoke as knowing himself the future, but without lifting the vail to disclose it fully to their view. When he had reached the point at which the fourteenth chapter of John closes, they appear to have risen from the table, as 60 Remember Me. John i 4 : if with the purpose of departing. But probably, as they stood grouped together after rising, the conversation recom- menced, and the Saviour went on again, as recorded in the fifteenth and sixteenth chap- ters ; and then concluded the interview with prayer. This supposition agrees with all the circumstances, and is much more probable The con- than that this delightful conversa- tion occurred out of doors as they and prayer not out of were walking. The whole spirit of the words addressed to the disciples, and of the sublime prayer that followed, sa- vors of retirement — of a secluded, quiet place — and would ill befit the wayside. Parting words! They are always affect- ing, the more in proportion as the person uttering them is venerated and beloved. The last words of a father or a mother or an Parting Words. 6i honored and cherished friend, when The words about to leave the world, are wont to touching, be kept by the survivors as the jewels because of the heart. But while, as his part- the last be ' fore he ing words, these last sayings of the suffered. Lord Jesus have a deep and peculiar interest, they are yet more precious because They are of the invaluable truths and prom- truth and ises which they embody. They comfort, furnish a solid ground for faith to rest upon amidst all trials and throughout all time. They breathe the deepest tenderness, the purest love, and the most divine tranquillity of soul. In these words, the whole He spoke Church of the redeemed, down to ers in all the last day of the world, have an time, individual concern. They belong to me per- sonally, if I am Christ's. While now once more I read and meditate upon them, may 62 Remember Me. they come warm and fresh to my soul, as if from the lips of my blessed Master! And most naturally do they connect them- selves with the sacramental season, in that I am to commemorate my Saviour's death for me, and these are his words of comfort spo- ken for me as he went to die. How like him was it to be then chiefly occupied, not with his own coming anguish, but with the trials awaiting those who should be left John 16: ° 13- without him amidst an evil and hos- tile world! Let me emulate this forgetful- ness of self. Let me be more in- Like Christ, to tent on ministering strength and be most 111 mindful of svm P a thy to others than on moving others, them to pity by recounting my own distresses. Forget not, O my soul, in what spirit thy Saviour spoke when the hour of his own great sorrows was even now at hand. Parting Words. 63 Let not your heart be troubled! This is the key-note of his wonder- ful discourse. Ah, dearest Lord, how hard is th^s for our weak faith! How difficult to con- Faithmust fide in thee, and fear nothing! Yet be stron » to conquer why should I be anxious ? Of what fear< should I be afraid ? In that covenant, which at thy table I. am going to renew again as I have done so often, every thing absolutely which is involved in my perfect safety and my best well-being thou hast bound thyself to save me. A mansion in thy Fa- & J John 14: ther s house ; the promise that thou 2. 3. thyself wilt come and bring me to it — wilt send the Comforter with a ministry T , ■> John 16 : 7. even better to me than thine — wilt John 14: thyself come and make thine abode 23# with me — wilt permit me to live in thee as 64 Remember Me. John 15 : the branch liveth in the vine ; and John 15 11. then the unqualified permission to ask and receive till my joy shall be full — such are the gifts of thy most faithful love. Well didst thou say. " Not as John 14 ; J ' 27- the world giveth give I unto thee." O blessed Jesus ! assist me, while I sit with thee at thy table, with warm affec- Prajer for faith and tion and unhesitating confidence to intrust myself, in body and soul, for life and death, to thee. Help thou me also, after thy divine example, to feel a generous love and a tender care for my fellow-disciples, and to go out of myself in ministering, as opportunity is given, to their encourage- , ment and comfort. Thou hast said, Mutual love com " This is my commandment, That ye love one another as I have loved John 13 : - / you." Do thou enable me to re- Parting Words. 65 member this as a portion of thy parting charge, and to count even the humblest of thy followers my brother, or sister, well be- loved for thy dear sake. Let me not forget that these are to be my companions and the sharers of my joy in the world above, and that thou acknowledgest every act of kind- ness done to them as if done unto thyself. By patience with all their infirmities and faults, and tender sympathy with their bur- dens and their sorrows, let me be prepared to hear thee say to me at last, " In- M asmuch as thou hast done it unto the least of these my brethren, thou hast done it unto Me." &■ 66 Remember Me. THE HOLY BOND. LITTLE while, he said, and hence I go ; And ye shall seek me, but ye shall not find: Ye may not follow now ; but left behind, My witnesses, the world by you shall know The truth ; that truth strike root, and grow ; A holy kingdom rise, and wide extend, Till e'en earth's proudest shall submissive bend, And unto me all tribes and nations flow. Behold, a new command to you I give — Love one another: all who will be mine Let love in one blest fellowship combine, That each for all, and all for each, may live. So, marked of men, shall ye, 'mid earth's dim night, Divinely glow with pure celestial light. Tin: Unity of Love. 67 THE UNITY OF LOVE. ORD, thou on earth didst love thine own Didst love them to the end : Oh ! still, from thy celestial throne, Let gifts of love descend. The love the Father bears to thee, His own eternal Son, Fill all thy saints, till all shall be In pure affection one. As thou for us didst stoop so low, Warmed by Love's holy flame, So let our deeds of kindness flow To all who bear thy name. 6S Remember Me. One blessed fellowship in love, Thy living Church should stand, Till, faultless, she at last above Shall shine at thy right hand. Oh glorious day, when she, the Bride, With her dear Lord appears ; When, robed in beauty at his side, She shall forget her tears ! VI. GETHSEMANE. SATURDAY EVENING. HEN our Lord had ended die memorable conversation __ . He goeth BMHHI and prayer which fol- totheGar- ..... r , den of lowed the institution of the sacra- ~ .. lietnsem- ment of the Supper, he went forth, ^ne. John rS : r. attended by his disciples, to Geth- semane. Of the twelve, he here selected three — Peter, James, and John — and took them with him to a little distance Matt. 26 : from the rest. Then, reminding these of their need of watchfulness and prayer, he separated himself even from them, 70 Remember Me. and went still farther, that he might be alone. There it was that the most affecting scene in all his life, save only that of Calvary, oc- curred. The hour had come in which it was per- john 22 mitted to the powers of darkness and to his malicious enemies to do He knows their worst against the holy Jesus. ff . He knew all that was before him. suffering He had clear foresight not only of the outward and merely natural suffering through which he was immediately to pass, but also of those inward and supernatural distresses which were involved in his work of expiation, and which must needs be, in a great measure, incomprehensible to us. His humanity was not a mere appearance : it was real and complete. As a man, he had lived a life conformed entirely to the ordinary Gethsemane. yi human conditions. He exhibited the com- mon sensibilities of our nature. He , suffered, being tempted. It is not wonderful, therefore, that in the near m his prospect of his last great conflict, all the details of which he perfectly well knew, he should have been exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. He was as one He 1 on whom the shadow of a vast, im- , dread ot measurable trouble was beginning to Sl111 fall darkly. He went forth to the garden of Gethsemane, as he had so often done before, for solitude and prayer. But now the weight of a great agony seemed to accumulate upon him. It overwhelmed him ; till, his Angels human strength failing, it pressed ' him sink- him to the ground. Then he, the ing under Lord of angels, the eternal Son of his ugon - the Father, needed and received the ministry 72 Remember Me. of angels. Ah ! did not tears fall even from celestial eyes at the sight of his deep humili- ation and distress ? Well may I linger here, and weep. Listen, O my soul ! Behold thy Saviour It is good to watch kneeling alone beneath the ancient olive-trees ! He offers up prayer m and supplications, with strong crying and many tears, unto Him that is able Heb. 5:7. to save him from death, and is heard in that he feared. Yes, he feared! — not death (for he was not saved from that), but lest his human strength and courage should prove unequal to his last great conflict. He was heard and answered in respect to this. Now he is comforted by the sympathy of the angelic messenger. Now the divine asserts itself in his consciousness again. Though he prays again and again that the cup may Gethsemane. 73 pass from him, if this be possible, yet he is enabled to say, as expressive of his Matt. 2f>-. profoundest wish, " Nevertheless, not 3 my will, but thine, be done ! " He will not shrink, but will tread the wine-press alone, and accomplish all that belongs to his work as the worlds Redeemer. What sublime self-sacrifice! What an unfathomable mys- tery of suffering ! Let the si^ht of : & & Tender- my blessed Lord, fainting and sink- ness and m& to the earth with anguish, and, & & > » view ot t he as it were, buried beneath huge bil- Saviour's lows of distress — all willingly en- dured for a guilty world, endured for me a sinner — penetrate my aoul with deepest ten- derness and grief! Most heartily would I lament, dear Lord, my many offenses for which it was needful that thou shouldst suffer. Most tenderly do 74 Remember Me. I recall thy tears and sorrows, that, fixing my thoughts on these, I may gain a Contrition J & ' J & just impression of the vastness of the debt of gratitude and love I owe. The world, while I come in contact with its trifles, and feel its earthly influences around me, would steal away the fervor of my af- fections. It would impair the en- Spirit of the world ergy of my faith and hope, repress my heavenward aspirations, and make me forgetful of the truth which I should ever keep in mind, that I am not my own, but thine. Often, I fear, it has beguiled me into listlessness and languor in respect to the holy duties of my great high calling ; and imperceptibly, while I thought not of any danger, has chilled my Christian zeal, and made me too unmindful of thee, my faithful Redeemer, — too little anxious to maintain Gethsemane. 75 the glow and the consistency of a true devo- tion to thy service. But, in meditation on the scene through which thou didst pass in sorrowful Gethsemane, I would disarm it of its power, and renew the holy ardor of my soul. It is so that I would prepare my heart for a right participation in the sacramental feast. I shall think tearfully of the Garden while I remember thee. 76 Remember Me. GETHSEMANE. PREAD thick above, ye clouds, your dusky vail ; Hide from yon stars the Saviour's bitter woe : q Breathe, ye night winds, in murmurs sad and low; Or lift, in fitful gusts, your mournful wail : Listen, thou Olivet ! and, Kedron's vale, Catch the sad accents that are borne to thee From yonder shade — thine own Gethsemane — As when one pleadeth and doth not prevail. See ! to the earth the holy Sufferer sinks ; Weighs on his heart an anguish all unknown ; Bursts from his lips the thrice-repeated prayer, Yet firm his will the utmost pang to bear ; Till for him, fainting while the cup he drinks, Angels bring succors from the eternal throne ! "In the Garden with Him." 77 "IN THE GARDEN WITH HIM. HERE climbs thy steep, fair Olivet, There is a spot most dear to me ; The spot with tears of sorrow wet, When Jesus knelt in agony. I love in thought to linger there, To tread the hallowed ground alone, Where, on the silent, midnight air, Rose heavenward, Lord, thy plaintive moan. I fondly seek the olive shade That vailed thee when thy soul was wrung ; When angels came to bring thee aid, That oft to thee their harps had strung. There, on the sacred turf, I kneel, And breathe my heart's deep love to thee, While tender memories o'er me steal Of all thou didst endure for me. 78 Remember Me. Oh, mystery of anguish ! when The Sinless felt sin's heavy woe ! Hell madly dreamed of triumph then, While thy dear head was bending low. Vain dream ! No grief shall evermore Stain, as with bloody sweat, thy brow Robed in all glory — thine before — The seraphim surround thee now. Yet, Lord, from off the burning throne, Above yon stars that softly gleam, Thou com'st to meet me here alone, By Kedron's old, familiar stream. VII. CALVARY. SABBATH MORNING. ^HERE they crucified him! Yes, there at Jerusalem, the Luke 23: Holy City, the . seat of ' J J 1 His, own the national religion, they who, as nation re- the chosen seed, and heirs of the ' crucify the promises, should have been the first M to welcome the Son and Lord of David, de- livered Him who was the anointed Mark 14: Kins: of Israel, the Messiah of the >T £> ' Matt. 27 : ages, to a shameful and cruel death ! Amazing spiritual blindness, and desperate persistency in sin ! Yet so the Scriptures 80 Remember Me. Luke 24 : were fulfilled, and a ruined world 25-27- redeemed. Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. He gave himself for the life of the John 6 : 51. world. He once for all put away Heb. 9 : 26. sin by the sacrifice of himself. Be- hold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world ! By his own blood he entered once into the holy place, Heb. 9: 12. having obtained eternal redemption Matt 26: f° r us - His blood is shed for many for the remission of sins. He is wounded for our transgressions ; he is bruised Isaiah 53: for our iniquities. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all ; and he bears our sins in his own I Peter 2 : body on the tree. This is indeed Rev. 13 : 8. the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world in the counsels of Eternal Love, Calvary. 8i and in the typical offering of slain victims unto God. He is lifted up upon the . . r r John 3 : 14, cross, like the brazen serpent in the wilderness, that the dying may look to him and live. " See from his head, his hands, his feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down ■ Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown ? " For weary hours he hangs a bleeding vic- tim, as if to fix the attention of the universe on the great atoning act which he performs. He dispenses mercy, even in the midst of his own sufferings, to one penitent and believing sinner. In the dreadful anguish — to us incom- prehensible — of one forsaken, he cries out 82 Remember Me. once and again ; and at last bows his head, saying, "It is finished! " and expires. O Jesus ! I sit down as if over against thy cross. I deliberately call to mind all that thou didst endure, and I see against the that in that great sacrifice of thine 3 «■ thou hast indeed opened a fountain for sin and for all uncleanness. Ah, now I perceive how deep the stain, how Sin seen in the light of vast the ill-desert, of sin ! Without the shedding of blood — of thy blood, O Most Holy! — there could be no remission. But thy blood cleans- eth from all sin. As I behold thee lifted up upon the cross, thy body broken, the crimson streams issuing from thy wounds; as I listen to the cry wrung from thee in thine agony of spirit — the mys- Calvary. 83 terv of which agony I can not comprehend, since it involved the hiding of thy 1 Father's face — I feel alike the infi- nite love and absolute justice of God, the and the profoundest conviction that ° Ror he can and will forgive and justify every sinner that believeth. Now I under- stand, O Jesus! thy touching words: 1 " This is my body, which is given for you ; my blood, which is shed for you." My dearest Lord ! on this thy lies on the most precous and all-availing sacri- fice I rely in humble faith. On this sure foundation, laid by thee, I build my im- mortal hopes. All unworthy in myself, for thy sake I am forgiven, justified, have peace with God, and am re- ceived of him as a child. And what shall I say ? How shall I pay the mighty debt I 84 Remember Me. owe ? I thank thee ; I praise thee. I would laud and magnify thy name for ever. Afresh, and most deliberately and heartily, I give myself, with all that I am and have, to thee. Divine life Let me abide ever in vital union with thee, and live in thy life. Let and full J salvation, love to thee be the ruling passion of my heart, the determining impulse of all the actions of my life. While I live, I would be wholly thine. When I come at last to die, may the assurance that thou art mine — my sufficient and ever-living Redeemer — dispel all darkness, and give me complete serenity and peace ! Then, to the glory of thy grace, permit me to behold thy face in righteousness. All these rich blessings, the purchase of thy death upon the cross, wilt thou seal to me, a humble believer, while I shall com- Calvary. 85 mune with thee at thy table in the remem- brance of thy death. Let me so A11 , r , feed upon thy body and blood, that ed to I may have the delightful conscious- beiiev- ness of eternal life begun within table. my soul. Oh, blessed, blessed day, when that life shall be made perfect, and, with all the redeemed before the throne, I shall unite in saying — Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and has redeemed us to god by his BLOOD ! >J4 * 86 Remember Me. THE SACRIFICE. 2 ONDER of wonders ! on the cross he dies ! Man of the ages — David's mighty Son — The eternal Word, who spake and it was done, What time, of old, he formed the earth and skies. Abashed be all the wisdom of the wise ! Let the wide earth through all her kingdoms know The promised Lamb of God, whose blood should flow, For human guilt the grand, sole sacrifice. No more need altar smoke, nor victim bleed : 'Tis finished ! — the great mystery of love. Ye sin-condemned, by this blood 'tis decreed Ye stand absolved ; behold the curse remove ! O Christ ! thy deadly wounds, thy mortal strife, Crush death and hell, and give immortal life ! Via Dolorosa. Sy VIA DOLOROSA. SEE my Lord, the pure, the meek, the lowly, Along the mournful way in sadness tread ! The thorns are on his brow ; and he, the Holy, Bearing his cross, to Calvary is led. Silent he moveth on, all uncomplaining, Though wearily his grief and burden press ; And foes, nor shame nor pity now restraining, With scoff and jeering, mock his deep distress. 'Tis hell's dark hour ; yet calm, himself resigning, Even as a lamb that goeth to be slain, The wine-press lone he treadeth, unrepining, And falling blood-drops all his raiment stain. In mortal weakness 'neath his burden sinking, The Son of God accepts a mortal's aid ! Then passes on to Golgotha, unshrinking, Where love's divinest sacrifice is made. 88 Remember Me. Dear Lord ! what though my path be set with sorrow, And oft beneath some heavy cross I groan ? My soul, weighed down, shall strength and cour- age borrow At thought of harder griefs which thou hast known. And I in tears will yet look up with gladness, And hope when troubles most my hope would drown : The mournful way which thou didst pass in sad- ness Was but the way to glory and thy crown ! : Y'^ c £/\^ At the Table. 89 AT THE TABLE. the thought that Jesus, unseen, is with you, completely pos- Jesuspre8 . sess your mind when seated unseen. at the table. Be collected, reverent, and tender in spirit. Let not a sense of your unworthiness make you afraid, but re member that this is a feast of love, instituted expressly for penitent sinners. Reflect that the mere outward receiving of the bread and of the wine can of itself convey to you no blessing. It is only as it assists your The brea< j faith to apprehend the Saviour in >inted the great act of making his atoning sacrifice ; it is only as you inwardly receive him as, through his death, your all- 90 Remember Me. sufficient Redeemer, and feed on him as the Bread of Life — that the elements presented in the Supper fulfill to you their end. While, therefore, the ordinance proceeds, let your mind and heart be occupied with such exer- cises as the following : — I. Lord Jesus ! thou art here to meet and Recogni- bi ess me at fay table. I am thine. tion of I trust thee, love thee, adore thee. Reveal thyself more fully to my soul. Impart unto me the Holy Ghost, that by his aid my spirit may be quickened, warmed, and purified, and brought into a holy sympathy with thee. II. " This is my body!" Yes, dearest Lord! I see in the broken bread a lively emblem of At the Table. 91 that body broken for sin — pierced, bleeding, dvinor, on the bitter cross. I behold J & th in the Lamb of God slain — the one sufficient sacrifice for sin. I hate my own sins, that helped to plat that crown of thorns, and to drive those cruel nails. "Broken for you!" O Jesus! it was indeed for me. By thy cross, even I may become — have become, I humbly hope — a child of the living God. III. As I take this symbol, O thou Bread of Life! I would spiritually feed on Chris thee. I open my heart to receive thee ; I give myself to thee anew ; I seal my covenant-vows anew ; I take thee anew to be my Saviour and my Lord. In this act of eating the sacramental bread, I 92 Remember Me. feel my soul united to thee, and receive of thy life and strength. Lovingly and trust- The unity ingly, O my Beloved ! I look up into thy blessed face, and thy smile falls like sunshine on my heart. May I abide ever in thy love ! IV. And now, with a heart melting into thank- ful tenderness, let me receive the gratefully CU p t « This is my blood ! " Yes, received. . O my soul ! this only can wash away thy sins, and make thee pure in the sight of the All-holy. This cleanseth from all sin. Apply to me afresh, thou who art at faith in the nce the Sacrifice of atonement and atonement. . the great High Priest, thy most precious blood. As I taste the wine in affec- tionate remembrance of thy bloody death, I At the Table. 93 lay myself again as if beneath thy cross, and entreat thee to grant me the assurance of peace with God. V. In this receiving of the bread and wine, I would not forget, dear Lord, that I & ' • The corn- have fellowship not only with thee, munion of but with my fellow-disciples. In them thou wilt have me recognize my breth- ren, and love even the humblest and the most imperfect of them for thy sake. I feel my heart warm towards them, as mem- Love to bers with thee of thy body. Help J J A lianhouse- me to be tender in spirit, patient, helpful, and forgiving, in all my intercourse with such as bear thy name. Make me more watchful to fulfill the new commandment. 94 Remember Me. VI. Though I must now leave thy table, O Jesus ! let me not, Lord, leave thy perpetual presence presence. Make thine abode in my unworthy heart. In the dark hours of temptation and trouble, in the moments when sadness and despondency oppress me, and especially when the hour of death ap- proaches, may I hear thy comforting voice, and know that thou rememberest me as I have endeavored to remember thee this day ! It is by such meditations and petitions that the devout disciple will enter Remarks. into the spirit of the Holy Supper, and make his own the benefits it was in- tended to convey. These are, of course, given merely as examples, illustrative of the At the Table. 95 real nature of the ordinance. They are de- signed to express the substance of the exer- cises — more or less extended and diversified, as the case may be — with which each one at the table should occupy his mind and heart. 96 Remember Me. AFTER THE SACRAMENT. SABBATH EVENING. ~^WT is the close of the Sabbath; and it has indeed been a sabbath to my soul. I have been permitted to sit with Christ and with his friends, as in heavenly places ; and the affecting fact that I am not my own, but have been bought with a price, has once more been distinctly placed before me. Have I not met my Lord in- deed ? Has he not smiled upon my soul, and whispered in its deep recesses the assur- ance that I am his? Has he not breathed upon me, and said, " Receive thou the Holy Ghost"? It must be so, if I have rightly partaken of the feast. After the Sacrament. 97 What then ? Henceforth it must be my care to live, not unto myself, but unto Him who died for me, and rose again. This I re- solve to-night, that by his grace it shall be. Yes, O my loving Redeemer ! who now ever livest Head over all things for thy Church, I am earnestly determined that in thy strength I will every day be an example unto the be- lievers, and a light in this dark world. To- night, therefore, I beseech thee, help me to gird up my loins anew, and to set forward with redoubled zeal and diligence in the way of Christian duty. Assist me, with watchful- ness and prayer, with Christian prudence and self-denial, to keep myself unspotted from the world. Let me find it in my heart to visit the fatherless and widows in their afflic- tion, and to go about doing good, after the example of my Lord. Especially aid me, 98 Remember Me. O my Saviour! to overcome temptation, to amend my faults of character, and to triumph entirely over the sins that most easily beset me. Give me the calmness of self-control, patience under trials, and submission to all thy will. Make me, finally, strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, firm and steadfast in Christian principle, and ever faithful to truth and to thy cause, till my work of life is done. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Make me to run in the way of thy command- ments. Let me be able to say at last, in thine own emphatic words, " I have glori- fied THEE ON THE EARTH ; I HAVE FINISHED THE WORK WHICH THOU GAVEST ME TO DO." All this I ask through thy dear cross and passion. Amen. Delight in Christ. 99 DELIGHT IN CHRIST. ESUS, thou Joy of loving hearts, Thou Fount of life, thou Light of men, From the best bliss that earth imparts We turn unfilled to thee again. Thy truth unchanged hath ever stood ; Thou savest those that on thee call : To them that seek thee thou art good ; To them that find thee, all in all ! We taste thee, O thou living Bread, And long to feed upon thee still ; We drink of thee, the Fountain-head, And thirst our souls from thee to fill. ioo Remember Me. Our restless spirits yearn for thee Where'er our changeful lot is cast ; Glad when thy gracious smile we see, Blest when our faith can hold thee fast. O Jesus ! ever with us stay ; Make all our moments calm and bright ; Chase the dark night of sin away ; Shed o'er the world thy holy light. Translated from Bernard. Faith. ioi FAITH. |Y Faith looks up to thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary, Saviour divine ! Now hear me while I pray Take all my guilt away ; O let me, from this day, Be wholly thine. May thy rich grace impart Strength to my fainting heart, My zeal inspire ! As thou hast died for me, O may my love to thee Pure, warm, and changeless be — A living fire ! While life's dark maze I tread, And griefs around me spread, Be thou my guide ; 102 Remember Me. Bid darkness turn to day, Wipe sorrow's tears away, Nor let me ever stray From thee aside. When ends life's transient dream, When death's cold, sullen stream Shall o'er me roll — Blest Saviour ! then, in love, Fear and distrust remove ; O bear me safe above — A ransomed soul ! t A ^ T-7 «: *-