Moses states that the women who waited all night at the
door of the tabernacle, cheerfully offered their looking glasses, to be
employed in making a brazen laver for the purification of the priests,
Exod. xxxviii, 8. These looking glasses were doubtless of brass, since
the basin here mentioned, and the basis thereof, were made from them.
The ancient looking glasses were mirrors, not made of glass as ours; but
of brass, tin, silver, and a mixture of brass and silver, which last
were the best and most valuable.
LORD’s DAY. See SABBATH.
LORD’s SUPPER, an ordinance instituted by our Saviour in commemoration
of his death and sufferings. The institution of this sacrament is
recorded by the first three evangelists, and by the Apostle Paul, whose
words differ very little from those of his companion St. Luke; and the
only difference between St. Matthew and St. Mark is, that the latter
omits the words, for the remission of sins.” There is so general an
agreement among them all, that it will only be necessary to recite the
words of one of them: Now, when the even was come, he sat down with the
twelve,” to eat the passover which had been prepared by his direction;
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. And
he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye
all of it; for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for
many for the remission of sins,” Matt. xxvi, 20, 26–28. The sacrament of
the Lord’s Supper being thus instituted, was adopted by all the early
Christians, with very few exceptions; and no modern sect rejects it,
except the Quakers and some mystics, who make the whole of religion to
consist of contemplative love.
In the early times of the Gospel the celebration of the Lord’s Supper
was both frequent and numerously attended. Voluntary absence was
considered as a culpable neglect; and exclusion from it, by the sentence
of the church, as a severe punishment. Every one brought an offering
proportioned to his ability; these offerings were chiefly of bread and
wine; and the priests appropriated as much as was necessary for the
administration of the eucharist. The clergy had a part of what was left
for their maintenance; and the rest furnished the repast called ἀγάπη,
or _love-feast_, which immediately followed the celebration of the
Lord’s Supper, and of which all the communicants, both rich and poor,
partook. The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper greatly resembled the
religious feasts to which the Jews were accustomed. At those feasts they
partook of bread and wine in a serious and devout manner, after a solemn
blessing or thanksgiving to God for his manifold mercies. This was
particularly the case at the feast of the passover, which our Saviour
was celebrating with his Apostles when he instituted this holy
sacrament. At that feast, they commemorated the deliverance of their own
peculiar nation from the bondage of Egypt; and there could not be a more
suitable opportunity for establishing an ordinance which was to
commemorate the infinitely more important deliverance of all mankind
from the bondage of sin. The former deliverance was typical of the
latter; and instead of keeping the Jewish passover, which was now to be
abrogated, they were to commemorate Christ, their passover, who was
sacrificed for them; the bread broken was to represent his body offered
upon the cross; and the wine poured out was to represent his blood,
which was shed for the salvation of men. The nourishment which these
elements afford to our bodies is figurative of the salutary effects
which the thing signified has upon our souls. And as the celebration of
the passover was not only a constant memorial of the deliverance of the
Israelites out of the land of Egypt, but also a symbolical action, by
which they had a title to the blessings of the old covenant; so the
celebration of the Lord’s Supper is not only a constant memorial of the
death of Christ, but also a pledge or earnest to the communicant of the
benefits promised by the new covenant. As the passover was instituted
the night before the actual deliverance of the Israelites, so the Lord’s
Supper was instituted the night before the redemption of man was
accomplished by the crucifixion of the blessed Jesus. It is to be
partaken of by all who look for remission of sins by the death of
Christ; we are not only to cherish that trust in our minds, and express
it in our devotions, but we are to give an outward proof of our reliance
upon the merits of his passion as the means of our salvation, by eating
that bread, and drinking that wine, which are typical representations of
the body and blood of Christ, who by his one oblation of himself once
offered, made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and
satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.” See SACRAMENTS.
door of the tabernacle, cheerfully offered their looking glasses, to be
employed in making a brazen laver for the purification of the priests,
Exod. xxxviii, 8. These looking glasses were doubtless of brass, since
the basin here mentioned, and the basis thereof, were made from them.
The ancient looking glasses were mirrors, not made of glass as ours; but
of brass, tin, silver, and a mixture of brass and silver, which last
were the best and most valuable.
LORD’s DAY. See SABBATH.
LORD’s SUPPER, an ordinance instituted by our Saviour in commemoration
of his death and sufferings. The institution of this sacrament is
recorded by the first three evangelists, and by the Apostle Paul, whose
words differ very little from those of his companion St. Luke; and the
only difference between St. Matthew and St. Mark is, that the latter
omits the words, for the remission of sins.” There is so general an
agreement among them all, that it will only be necessary to recite the
words of one of them: Now, when the even was come, he sat down with the
twelve,” to eat the passover which had been prepared by his direction;
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. And
he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye
all of it; for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for
many for the remission of sins,” Matt. xxvi, 20, 26–28. The sacrament of
the Lord’s Supper being thus instituted, was adopted by all the early
Christians, with very few exceptions; and no modern sect rejects it,
except the Quakers and some mystics, who make the whole of religion to
consist of contemplative love.
In the early times of the Gospel the celebration of the Lord’s Supper
was both frequent and numerously attended. Voluntary absence was
considered as a culpable neglect; and exclusion from it, by the sentence
of the church, as a severe punishment. Every one brought an offering
proportioned to his ability; these offerings were chiefly of bread and
wine; and the priests appropriated as much as was necessary for the
administration of the eucharist. The clergy had a part of what was left
for their maintenance; and the rest furnished the repast called ἀγάπη,
or _love-feast_, which immediately followed the celebration of the
Lord’s Supper, and of which all the communicants, both rich and poor,
partook. The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper greatly resembled the
religious feasts to which the Jews were accustomed. At those feasts they
partook of bread and wine in a serious and devout manner, after a solemn
blessing or thanksgiving to God for his manifold mercies. This was
particularly the case at the feast of the passover, which our Saviour
was celebrating with his Apostles when he instituted this holy
sacrament. At that feast, they commemorated the deliverance of their own
peculiar nation from the bondage of Egypt; and there could not be a more
suitable opportunity for establishing an ordinance which was to
commemorate the infinitely more important deliverance of all mankind
from the bondage of sin. The former deliverance was typical of the
latter; and instead of keeping the Jewish passover, which was now to be
abrogated, they were to commemorate Christ, their passover, who was
sacrificed for them; the bread broken was to represent his body offered
upon the cross; and the wine poured out was to represent his blood,
which was shed for the salvation of men. The nourishment which these
elements afford to our bodies is figurative of the salutary effects
which the thing signified has upon our souls. And as the celebration of
the passover was not only a constant memorial of the deliverance of the
Israelites out of the land of Egypt, but also a symbolical action, by
which they had a title to the blessings of the old covenant; so the
celebration of the Lord’s Supper is not only a constant memorial of the
death of Christ, but also a pledge or earnest to the communicant of the
benefits promised by the new covenant. As the passover was instituted
the night before the actual deliverance of the Israelites, so the Lord’s
Supper was instituted the night before the redemption of man was
accomplished by the crucifixion of the blessed Jesus. It is to be
partaken of by all who look for remission of sins by the death of
Christ; we are not only to cherish that trust in our minds, and express
it in our devotions, but we are to give an outward proof of our reliance
upon the merits of his passion as the means of our salvation, by eating
that bread, and drinking that wine, which are typical representations of
the body and blood of Christ, who by his one oblation of himself once
offered, made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and
satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.” See SACRAMENTS.