FROM THE BOOKSHELF
(i) LOVE'S CHALLENGE
J.B.Catterell
The Lord Himself has instituted the Supper, and when you consider what He has done, it becomes very great to your soul – far beyond an ordinance. If things are normal, the Supper is not a time for heart-searching, though I know of nothing that we do that searches the heart more. But do you not feel that the bearing of the Passover must come first with us? When the Apostle Paul speaks of the Passover to the saints at Corinth, does he speak of it as an ordinance? No, he does not speak of it as an ordinance in a religious way, but in connection with the greatness of Christ: "For also our passover, Christ, has been sacrificed", 1 Cor 5: 7. That is what carries the affections. "so that let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of malice." If we say an unkind, bitter word in the middle of the week, is it surprising to find it comes between the Lord and ourselves on the first day of the next week? Do you think that the Lord keeps no histories? Has He no records? Yea, more, my spirit has records, and cause and effect are things we have to consider in a sober way. I may speak disparagingly of a brother or sister; I may say something that possibly could not be challenged in form, but it leaves an effect of malice, and when I sit down to answer to the Lord in the Supper, the brother or sister is there whom my word has made little of, and in virtue of what the Lord has done, He speaks in this wise: The one you have made less than yourself is as much to Me as any other, as much to Me as you; I laid down My life for you all. But, you say, suppose a brother is not walking well. Brethren, if I touch that at all, may the Lord give me grace to touch it in relation to Himself. The Lord has left us without the slightest ground for speaking ill of the brethren, and if I stand on that ground I am standing on ground of my own. I know of nothing in a way that may explain why there is not the rendering of an answer more free, more full, and more fruitful to the Lord than the fact that we hold one another in our hearts at times in such an inferior way. I feel sure your hearts will confirm me in this, that any making little of the brethren must receive love's challenge from the Lord Himself. The Lord will not have it. Evil speaking is not outside only, and that is solemn to think of. And not evil speaking only, but the sense carried in the mind in respect of others that, either in their persons or in their service, they are less than we are, comes between our hearts and the Lord.
May the blessed Lord give us the power to esteem each other better than ourselves. No power in nature is sufficient for that. Nature may go to the length of allowing that another is as good as oneself. The grace of Christ, the patience of Christ, the beauty of the Lord – let these shine on the brethren as your eyes look on them for the Lord's sake.
From: Words of Grace and Comfort
January 1925