The Lord’s Supper: Doctrines, Encouragements, and Duties

John Shower explains that as it is our duty and privilege to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we should come to it with repentance, love, gratitude, and joy. The Lord’s Supper is a covenant of fidelity between God and man in which we express public love and honor to our Savior and the emphasis is not on the efficacy of our faith but on His actions. Shower’s eight discourses will help us as we meditate on the meaning of the Supper in devotional love.

Contents

Foreword
Author’s Preface

Part 1: Discourses before and after the Lord’s Supper

1. Union to Christ, and the New Creature (2 Cor. 5:7)
2. Christ Going to Gethsemane (John 18:1–2)
3. Spiritual Washing (1 Cor. 6:11)
4. The Communion of Christ’s Body and Blood (1 Cor. 10:16)
5. The Sin and Danger of Unworthy Receiving (1 Cor. 11:29)
6. Christ’s Last Passover and Its Accomplishment (Luke 22:15–18)
7. The Feast of Christ’s Love (Song 2:4)
8. Christ’s Cure of a Disciple’s Weak Faith (John 20:27–28)

Part 2: Questions about Salvation, Assurance, and the Lord’s Supper

9. How Much Assurance Is Necessary to Come to the Table?
10. Two Sacramental Questions on Our Duty to Take Communion

• Are All Baptized Christians Bound to Partake of the Lord’s Supper?
• Why Do So Many Good People Live in Neglect of this Ordinance?

11. Four Sacramental Questions on Those Unworthy to Take Communion

• Is the Lord’s Supper a Means of Converting Souls?
• Should I Partake If Unworthy Communicants Are Admitted to the Supper?
• What Is an Unworthy Receiver of Communion?
• What Is the Danger of Unworthy Receiving?

12. Wasn’t Judas Present at the First Celebration of the Lord’s Supper?

Part 3: Sermons Related to the Lord’s Supper

13. The Purposes of Receiving the Lord’s Supper
14. The Cross of Christ, a Christian’s Glory (Gal. 6:14)
15. The Promise and Oath of God (Heb. 6:16, 18)
16. Christ’s Love for Us Like the Father’s to Him (John 15:9)

Appendix: A Paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer

John Shower (1657–1715) assisted stalwart Puritan pastors Vincent Alsop and John Howe before accepting a call to the Presbyterian Church at Curriers’ Hall, Cripplegate, where he served for nearly twenty-five years.

Joel R. Beeke (PhD, Westminster Seminary) is chancellor and professor of homiletics and systematic and practical theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, a pastor of the Heritage Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, board chairman of Reformation Heritage Books, editor of Puritan Reformed Journal and Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth, a frequent speaker at Reformed conferences around the world, and a prolific author.