Actes 18:21

I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem.

The duty of observing the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper

When our Lord came to be baptized He satisfied John by saying, “Suffer it to be so, for thus it behoveth us to fulfil all righteousness”--i.e., it becomes us to observe every righteous ordinance of God. The same spirit that animated the Master directed the conduct of His disciples; everywhere they were distinguished by a reverence for the ordinances of religion. And if there be an instance in which this spirit was more strikingly exemplified, we see it in the case before us. Surrounded as he was by the people of Ephesus, who entreated him to remain among them for a longer period, he still felt the preponderating influence of the obligation to observe the feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem. I trust every heart here responds to the feeling of the apostle. A Christian will say, “I must by all means keep this feast,” for--

I. It is the commandment of Christ. Were it a mere conventional ordinance, merely one of those outward circumstances which are not essential to the existence of Christianity, it might be left to our own discretion whether we should observe it or not. But it comes to us on the authority of the Saviour, who said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” There is not any precept more explicitly laid down, and we cannot refuse to observe it without setting aside the authority of Him to whom we are indebted for all that we now are or hope hereafter to enjoy.

II. That I may be the better warned of the evil of sin. There is in this ordinance a manifestation of the evil of sin that is not to be found elsewhere; for we commemorate that great sacrifice which the Father required: in order to render the exercise of mercy to the penitent consistent with the exercise of His justice, in the moral administration of the world. When, therefore, the believer sits down at the table of the Son of God, and has his eyes turned to the Cross of Christ, his heart is smitten with a sense of the evil nature and destroying tendency of sin, and he feels that the world is crucified unto him and he unto the world.

III. Because it is one of the appointed means of grace. There is no feeling to which the heart is more ready to respond than our need of strength greater than our own for the varied duties and trials and sorrows of our nature. And God has promised that His grace shall be sufficient for us--that His strength shall be perfect in our weakness. But we must wait upon Him for this strength and grace in the way of His appointing (Ézéchiel 36:37). We are not, therefore, to expect the blessing unless we employ the means. And the Lord’s Supper is one of the appointed means by which the Spirit of God meets the believer, to renew, to sanctify, to encourage, and to direct him.

IV. Because it is one of the most direct means of uniting the family of God in the bonds of peace and love. At this table the rich and the poor meet together. There we learn to love mankind when we see that love which embraced the world. There we learn to forgive an enemy when we see Christ bleeding for His foes.

V. Because we know not that we shall have another opportunity. We are all dying creatures, and we know not what a day may bring forth. (J. Johnston.)

If God will.

Recognition of the Divine will in human affairs

There is a self-reliance that stifles the spirit of religion. On the other hand, there are timid souls who are ever hesitating and wavering, and who would rather be carried by the current than take the oars and impel their skiff against it. Merciless, overbearing strength, and weak, purposeless yielding are neither of them attractive. Paul was a man of strong will and ready decision. There was a strength about him that could be relied upon. And yet he was gentle, sympathetic, open to influence and persuasion. The character was balanced and kept right by faith. He did not determine matters hastily. He listened and weighed, then he referred the matter for decision to God. There was, in his idea of life, another will beside his own--another wisdom--another choice. And he was glad to subordinate himself to that as the determining element. We have here--

I. A recognition of the Divine superintendence and ordination of human life. The words imply that all is not left to Paul’s determinations; that he has not the shaping of his own course. There is a Divine will over all, and it prevails. We are here in circumstances in which we are required to act for ourselves, but we find ourselves often thwarted; our will, determining itself, comes into collision with others; there are plans into which others do not fit. More than this, there is another will stronger than ours which prevails against us. Do what we please, we can only reach our end, perfect our plan, fulfil our purpose--“if God will.” Is, then, man the mere sport and play of a Divine decree--the creature of Fate--the victim of an Iron Rule that uses or crushes, as the case may be? Certainly not. Man has power of choice; he is called upon to judge what is most fitting and most proper. But God, who has left him free, realises His own ends through that freedom, even through that freedom should determine itself in opposition to the behests of His will. We see about us natural processes going on--the day and night, the seasons, the sunshine, the winds and storms. Man has no power over any one of them. But he can realise his purposes by means of them, and God is always doing so. In like manner He realises His purposes by means of the free choice of His creatures.

II. An expression of humble submission. The words imply that Paul did not wish any other will than God’s to be done. Paul did not desire to be where God did not wish him to be. He desired God to rule his life for him. He would return if God led him thither; otherwise they should see his face no more. This is the essential principle of the regenerate heart. The essence of sin is neither more nor less than self will. Only when the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is in us, do we get rid of the desire to order our own away. What schooling it needs to perfect this mind in us! How stubborn and rebellious we are! What frightful blunders we make! How heart breaking are our disappointments! It is by a discipline the most painful, sometimes carried through long years, that God teaches us to let Him order our life for us, and prepare our good. The trials and disappointments of life are all meant to teach us that God’s will is far better than ours, and to school our rebellion into acquiescence, our self-determination into adoring trust. We should cultivate this spirit more and more.

III. A declaration that God has ways of making His will known. The sphere, conditions, and time of labour are Divinely ordained. But how are we to know what God would have us do? There is a light which shines from the Word, and a light which shines in the spirit, an inward persuasion that such and such works are to be done, and there is an objective providential light by which God guides His own as by the pillar of cloud and fire. By these means God lets men see what He would have them do. Conclusion: There is here, then--

1. A caution suggested against that presumption which is based on the idea of human power and prerogative.

2. A condition of effectual prayer.

3. What confidence, what peace, there must come to those who feel, like Paul, that God knows them, cares for them, orders their way, appoints their lot.

4. How easy submission ought to be to us! (W. H. Davison.)