“Can we Gethsemane forget? 
    Or there thy conflict see,
    Thine agony and bloody sweat,
    And not remember thee? 
    When to the cross we turn our eyes,
    And rest on Calvary,
    O Lamb of God, our sacrifice,
    We must remember thee.”

But Jesus has connected this blessed sacrament with the hope of his glory—­as well as with the word of his command and the memory of his sufferings.

He made this connection very clear when he said at the institution of this solemn service—­“I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”  St. Matt, xxvi:  29.  And the apostle Paul pointed out the same connection when he said, “As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death, till he come.”  I. Cor. xi:  26.  This sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is the point of meeting between the sufferings of Christ and the glory that is to follow—­between his cross, with all its shame and anguish, and his kingdom, with all its honor and blessedness.

We have sometimes heard or read of magicians who have pretended to have wonderful mirrors into which persons might look and see all that was before them in this life.  If there were such a mirror, it would be a strange thing indeed to look into it and find out what was going to happen to-morrow, or next month, or next year, or twenty years hence.  But, there never was any such mirror.  As the apostle says, “We know not what shall be on the morrow.”  No mortal man can tell what will happen to him as he takes the very next step in life.

Yet, this solemn sacrament is like such a magical mirror.  We can look into it and see, clearly represented there, what will happen to us in the future, not of this life indeed, but of the life to come.  It leads our minds on to the marriage supper of the Lamb.  And a voice from heaven declares—­“Blessed are they who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”  Rev. xix:  9.  That marriage supper represents the highest joys of heaven.  It gathers into itself all the glory and happiness that await us in the heavenly kingdom.  And this sacramental service is the type or shadow of all the bliss connected with that great event in the future.  If we are true and faithful partakers of this solemn sacrament—­this memorial feast, we shall certainly be among the number of those whose unspeakable privilege it will be to sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb, in heaven.  There we shall be in the personal presence of Jesus, our glorified Lord.  Our eyes “shall see the King in his beauty.”  And we shall see all his people too in the perfection of glory that will mark them there.  And in happy intercourse with that blessed company we shall find all “the exceeding great and precious promises” of God’s word fulfilled in our own personal experience.

And then there is nothing that can sustain and comfort us under the many trials of this mortal life like the hope of sharing this joy with our blessed Lord, when he shall come in the glory of his heavenly kingdom.